Game
by Multiple-Identities
Summary: With a rather unorthodox starter at her disposal, and an even more questionable best friend as her only human companion, a very reluctant Black sets off on her belated pokémon journey to defeat all her rivals and rise to the top. Or something like that. OCxOC.
1. Prologue

The seconds were counting down. Our time was fast running out.

My trainer had long since run on ahead, leaving me behind to slow down anyone who tried to follow her. It wasn't cowardliness on her part. It was merely the tactical thing to do. My species was not known for its speed, hence the 'slow', and now we were rushing against time itself. She could not afford to slow her speed for me to keep pace.

So instead I focused my energy on keeping lingering enemies at bay. The assembled trainers that weren't quite quick enough to stop her as she ran up the slope of the volcano, but pointlessly gave chase anyway for the sake of appearance. I stood between them and her, refusing to let even a single person slip by me.

I may be slow, but weak I am not. The humans soon discovered this when they tried to breeze passed, only for me to pick them up with my psychic powers and throw them back down the slope.

It didn't take long for them to discover that getting by me was not such an easy feat, and out came the pokémon in multiple flashes of red light.

I was prepared for this.

They were mostly young, inexperienced pokémon that hadn't been with a trainer for very long. They were the easiest to incapacitate. The pokémon with more experience were also fairly easy to bring down. Like most, they underestimated me, and in a few near effortless moves they too were down for the time being.

It didn't stay easy for very long, however.

Soon enough they wised up to me, and attacked with more caution. After awhile they began to throw in strategies, trying to sneak up beside me while I was distracted by another.

I pushed on, determined not to let my trainer down. She needed to focus now, and these grunts would only cause problems. Even a moment's hesitation could mean the difference between life or death. She needed to concentrate.

My heart leapt when a houndoom appeared in front of me, and for a fleeting moment I thought-_hoped_-that reinforcements had arrived.

Alas, I was wrong. The houndoom was not an ally of ours, and I realized it too late.

It's snapped at me, and acting on instinct I brought my arm up to protect my face. Unfortunately, that put my arm in the way, and a searing pain shot through my limb when a fiery mouth wrapped around it and fangs sunk into my flesh.

I head butted it, and the cursed dark-type released me with a yelp of pain. One water pulse later and I sent the hound packing with its tail between its legs, but the damage had already been done.

The bite was already inflamed, and I could feel the pulsing heat gnawing away inside of me.

I had been burnt. Just my luck.

I continued to stand my ground, but it didn't take long before the pokémon attacking me realized I was weakened. They redoubled their efforts, and despite everything I found myself growing weak. My powers were lacking in strength, and my arm was growing hotter and hotter.

Now growing somewhat concerned, I telepathically reached out for my trainer, gently probing to see how far along she had come.

Instead of her familiar presence, a horrible echoing _nothingness_ greeted me.

_No..._

I reached further, more insistently, but still felt nothing of her.

I balked, feeling a cold sense of dread settle upon me.

There was only one reason I wouldn't be able to feel my trainer, but I just couldn't believe it. I _refused_ to accept it as the truth. There was no way my trainer was dead. Not after everything-how far we had come, what we had accomplished, what we had been through-there was no way.

Desperately, I focused all my attention on reaching her, and that was my downfall.

The sky lit up, lightning snaking across the dark clouds, before it opened and a bolt of electricity came down directly at me.

I knew then that we had been defeated.

Obviously it was the attack of some pokémon that I didn't get the chance to see, because instead of throwing up a protect like I should have, I stood still like an incompetent moron and watched as the impressive thunder came down on top of me.

Just like that, we had lost the game.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's notes<strong>: So, here we go. This "chapter" is incredibly short. From here on out, the chapters will be at least four times as long, I promise. Since I don't have a beta reader, I would like anyone who spots a mistake to tell me in the reviews. I can't grow as a writer if I keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

**Disclaimer**: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own pokemon, just the characters used in this story. ;)


	2. Chapter 1 - Let the games begin

I wish I could start at the beginning and explain the events that led up to our defeat in chronological order, but the problem is that I don't exactly _know_ when it all first started.

I could say it began when we first found out about the end of everything as we know it, but that would be a lie. I don't even think the start was when we first encountered _Him_ on our journey. Truthfully, I believe this whole situation was the end result of something that occurred many decades ago, but neither my trainer nor I were alive. I can hardly explain something in detail if I wasn't even there.

So I'll start on the day that I first met my trainer. When the game was first set into motion.

* * *

><p>Sonya was getting restless, and not a peaceful kind of restless either. The kind of restless that involved pacing, growling, and an awful amount of pushy challenges that I just wasn't in the mood to deal with.<p>

Not that I entirely blamed her.

I myself was more edgy then usual as well, which is always a rare occurrence in my species. Normally my kind are merely too simple-minded to care about much of anything, but I was gifted with an unusual amount of intelligence that's both a gift and a curse. At times like this, I must say that I lean more towards it being a curse. The rest of my kind doesn't get nearly as stressed as I.

Toxose, easily the most laid-back of the three of us, didn't seem bothered in the slightest. He was indifferent to the situation, and Sonya didn't like that all. She spent most of her time snarling at him, sizing him up and trying to make him uncomfortable. Most shroomish would cower before a houndour, but not him. I'm still unsure if this is due to an incredible amount of bravery, or an incredible lack of intelligence.

"Woah, dudette, like, calm down," he drawled, giving her a half-lidded stare. "Just go with the flow, yeah? No use swimming against the tides. The only way to make sense of the change is to, like, plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. You getting me?"

Half of the time, I truly had no idea what Toxose was talking about. I don't think Sonya did either.

"Silence, weed," she snapped, ears pinned back and teeth bared in a snarl. "We're expected to sit still and behave while these _vile_ creatures come in here and look us over like toys in a window, deciding which one of us they like best. Then we'll be locked away in a pokéball again, only to come out to fight and do whatever our _masters_ tell us to do. I refuse to be a slave to a _disgusting_ human child, and _you two_ will help me escape or burn in hell for your defiance!"

She demonstrated by spitting a spark of fire in front of the shroomish, body huffing in suppressed rage and fur standing on end. To his credit, Toxose didn't even blink.

"Be here now, dudette," he said, ignoring the way her eyes flashed dangerously and a murderous growl rumbled in her throat. "Your mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work unless it's open. So open your mind, feel the winds of change. Go with them. Don't, like, fight them, dudette. Be one with the currents."

Sonya bristled and loomed over the grass-type, standing on the very front of her paws for height.

"You _dare_ mock me?"

"Make love, not war, sister."

"You vile plant! Do you _want_ to die!?"

"Live and let live."

"I will _burn_ you alive and spit on your ashes!"

"Far out, man..."

Sonya, for reasons unknown, rounded on me with a vicious snarl.

"You! What do you think of this? Surely you, who was once wild, does not want to be reduced to some common, human pet! To be stripped of your freedom and treated like a slave! Surely you agree with me that these humans must die!"

"I am afraid that is not the case," I replied, trying to sound as non-threatening and as humble as possible to spare myself the hound's wrath. Naturally, my plan didn't work.

"Just what is _that_ supposed to mean!?" She stalked towards me, head high and lips curled above her fangs. I held my ground, knowing that backing away would only cause more problems. Sure enough, she stopped in front of me, completely disregarding personal space when she leaned in close, eyes boring into mine. "Do you actually _like_ the thought of being a pet? Of _belonging_ to a _human_!?"

Sonya's speech always bothered me. She had a habit of emphasising every couple of words, making her volume levels rise and fall all throughout a sentence. It was rather disconcerting and made it hard to focus on the things she was actually saying.

"I would be dead if it was not for the humans. My capture was necessary to my survival, and will continue to be so until the day I die," I told her calmly.

That was entirely true. I never planned on getting caught by a human, but I didn't have much of a choice at the time. My home was attacked by humans in dark uniforms that I later discovered were called Team Rocket, and in the process of defending my lair I was badly poisoned by a trained ekans. Once the attacking humans discovered that I had been poisoned, they grew annoyed that my blood was 'now too dangerous to consume' and left me to die while they focused their attention on the rest of my colony.

Very few survived that day, and I was fortunate-sometimes, I think, unfortunate-enough to be one of them.

Although my injuries have long since healed, the poison left some long-term damage to vital organs such as my heart. I was completely reliant on medication the humans provided me with. Without it, I would suffer greatly and eventually cease to live. A fate that, so long as I stay with a human that can get me said medication, won't come to be.

Sonya does not know that, however.

She spat an ember in my face, and I jerked back slightly in shock. Being a water-type, small bursts of fire like that didn't cause much damage to me, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience. I blinked away the heat and peered up at her, debating whether or not I should retaliate and risk getting into trouble.

"Weak," she barked, glaring down at me. "Both of you! You're just as weak as the humans! Just as useless! I'll escape without your help!"

She didn't get very far, because at that point the door opened and a scientist stepped in, shortly followed by a group of young humans, chatting away animatedly.

"Okay, quiet down for a moment," the scientist said, hugging a clipboard to his chest as he looked over the group of children. The children more or less obeyed, hushing and quieting each other and focusing their attention on the man. "Who's here for the capture program? Please raise your hand."

Several of the children raised their hands, and the scientist gestured to door leading to another room.

"Those here for the find and capture program need to go through their and meet up with Professor Harris. She'll guide you from there. Those who are here for the breeding program need to go back to the lobby and wait. Professor Harris will get to you shortly."

The kids nodded and, somewhat haphazardly, divided and split off into groups, heading to their designated locations. By the time the crowd cleared out, only four children remained. Two boys, and two girls.

"Ah, and you four must be here for the advanced training program," the scientist said, looking down at his clipboard.

"I'm actually just here with her," a red-haired girl replied, dipping her head towards the other female. "For moral support."

"Moral support," the man repeated dubiously.

"Yep," she said cheerfully, grinning widely and slinging an arm over the shorter girl's shoulders. The dark-haired girl beside her didn't look so impressed, even shying away from the touch and hunching her shoulders defensively.

"Okay then," he frowned, looking confused, but didn't dawdle on the subject. "Now, you three signed up for advanced training. First of all, do you have any idea what this is?"

"Pokémon training, but with different rules," the blond-haired boy responded instantly.

"It's purpose is to test how pokémon trainers react to challenging situations," the brown-haired boy added, pushing his glasses up his nose. "It's no more dangerous than normal pokémon training, of course, but the additional rules make it much more difficult. In comparison, it's a bit like chess as opposed to, say, snakes and ladders. Their both board games, but one is much more advanced than the other."

The scientist nodded. I noticed the blond-haired boy give the slighter boy a quick glare, but no one else seemed to see it.

"Very good," he said. "Now, do you know the rules?"

"Of course we do," the larger boy sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "What do you take us for? We've been prepared for this day since we were eight."

"Can you tell me anyway? It's protocol," he said.

"Fine," the boy muttered. "The first rule is this; instead of leaving at the intended age of ten, we were asked to stay behind and go through a series of advanced tests that lasted three years, before we moved onto practical exams."

"We were then taken on a small tour around Kanto, guided by Processor Oak himself," the brown-haired boy continued, once again shifting his glasses. "We learnt how to survive and how to be independent, while learning about pokémon moves and battle strategies for when we do become trainers. It was rather straightforward, if I do say so myself."

"We're not allowed to catch more than six pokémon," the larger male said, giving the boy another glare. "We're to focus only on six pokémon, which means that we can't even catch more and put them in the PC. The pokéballs we'll be given are specialized, and will all stop working after our sixth capture. Additionally, our trainer cards will only let us purchase these types of pokéballs and nothing else, which prevents us from accidentally getting the wrong kind of pokéballs."

"If we are given or obtain pokémon in a way other than capture, our pokédex are designed to register this as a capture anyway, which again stops us from getting more pokémon than we're allowed," the smaller boy added.

"The three of us are competitors in a tournament that will happen in at the end of next year," the dark-haired girl spoke up, voice low and uninterested. "We have two years to train and develop the best strategy to defeat others who enter the tournament, including each other. The goal of this is to force us into using strategy rather than strength."

"Good, good," the scientist muttered, briefly glancing down at his clipboard. After a few seconds he looked up again and smiled at the four children. "Let's move on, shall we? I guess you've been waiting for this for a long time."

"You bet," the larger boy grinned.

"Well, behind me are three very different pokémon that have been selected especially for trainers in the advanced training program," the scientist said, half-turning and gesturing towards us.

"Get the houndour," the red-haired girl hissed quietly to the black-haired girl. Once again, a frown was her answer and nothing more.

"We still have the three most common elements here," he continued. "Water, fire and grass. However, two of these pokemon have another type, and the third will gain another type after evolution. We have already chosen which pokemon will go to which trainer, to avoid arguments."

"Damn," the taller girl muttered.

"Fine by me," the blond-haired boy said, shrugging.

"Well then, I guess we'll start with you," the scientist said. "What's your full name?"

"Yoshida Hiro," he replied.

"Hiro?" Looking down at his clipboard once more, the scientist nodded. "Ah, you're the boy from Cianwood City. My, you're a long way from home. Your father is the gym leader there, correct?"

"Yeah, Chuck's my old man," Hiro said.

"Hm, well, your father actually requested that you receive the shroomish, but Professor Oak seems to disagree. He's asked that you receive the houndour," he said, frowning thoughtfully.

"I asked for it."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Hiro said, folding his arms across his chest. "Isn't it obvious? All three of these pokémon have their own strengths, but the houndour here is the smartest choice. Not only does it have an advantage over the shroomish, but it also has an advantage over the slowpoke. Also, fire is always good to have at your disposal in the wilderness."

It suddenly became obvious that these three children were not normal trainers, and I felt rather dim-witted for not realizing it sooner.

"Well, I guess that makes sense," the scientist replied, nodding. "Very well, the houndour will be your starting pokémon."

"Like hell," Sonya spat, glaring bitterly at the boy.

"It might take a bit of work," the man added, looking uncertain.

"It'll be fine," Hiro said, giving Sonya a look. "I don't plan on falling behind my rivals. I'm prepared to work."

Sonya snarled at him, ears pinned back. Evidently, she didn't agree.

"Here, this is it's pokéball," the older male said, picking up a pokéball and another strange device from the tray beside him and handing it to Hiro, "and, of course, your pokédex. When you're ready, fill in your trainer details and scan the houndour. You'll be able to see all it's information there."

"Thanks," Hiro replied, fiddling with the pokédex.

The boy beside Hiro looked down at the houndour briefly, before looking towards me. After a few seconds his eyes drifted over to Toxose, and then finally settled on the scientist again.

"What pokémon will I be receiving?"

"What's your name?"

"Nagata Kei," he replied smoothly.

"Professor Oak has asked that you receive the shroomish, since Hiro refused it."

Kei pushed his glasses up, casting a glare across their reflective surface.

"Very well," he said.

"Right on, man," Toxose drawled.

"Here's it's pokéball, and here's your pokédex."

"Thank you."

I stared at the dark-haired girl, the only child left. If Sonya was going to Hiro, and Toxose was going to Kei, then it stood to reason that I would be given to the final trainer, the only one without a pokémon.

The girl stared back, eyes half-lidded. Apparently, she figured it out as well.

"No, not the water-type," the girl beside her moaned. "Why is it always a water-type?"

Whatever that meant.

"Yes, obviously the slowpoke goes to you," the scientist told her. "Your name?"

"Black," she said simply.

"Suchīru Kuro," the girl beside her said with a sigh, giving the scientist a flat stare. "Her real name is Suchīru Kuro, but she tells everyone calls her Black."

"...Why?"

Black shrugged.

"Why not?"

"Uh... well. I guess you don't need a reason to have a nickname..." he muttered, frowning at the dark-haired girl. "Anyway, Professor Oak wanted you to have the slowpoke."

"Okay," Black said, taking hold of the pokédex as it was given to her. The girl beside her pulled a face, looking uncomfortable.

"But why? Does it _have_ to be a water-type?"

"Is there something wrong with water-types?"

"Oh, don't mind her," Black said absent-mindedly, tilting the pokédex and gazing down at its screen. "She has an irrational phobia of water-types."

"It is _not_ irrational," she whined, stomping her foot.

"It _is_ kind of irrational," Hiro muttered.

"You can drown in water! How is that irrational?"

"You can't drown in a water-type pokémon," he replied simply.

"I know that," she snapped, glaring at him venomously. "Water-type pokémon _can_ kill, though."

"So can all pokémon," Black said.

"I _know_ that!"

"So, why is it just water-types? If you're scared of a pokémon killing you, shouldn't you be scared of all of them?" Hiro looked up from his pokédex, returning her glare with a blank look. "A grass or fire type could do just as much damage as a water-type."

"I know-It's just-! Look! It's none of your business, okay? I don't trust water-type pokémon, and that's that," she said, folding her arms across her chest and nodding her head to conclude her argument

"Gonna be pretty hard when your friend there has a water-type as a starter," Hiro replied, jerking his head at Black. "You're going to be traveling together, right?"

"None of your business!"

Hiro held his hands up in a placating way.

"Kids, kids, calm down," the scientist said uneasily. "I'm sure that-uh, I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"Ban Aki," the girl grumbled.

"I'm sure that Miss Ban has her reasons," he said. Aki folded her arms across her chest and huffed, turning away from Hiro. "Anyway, now that the three of you have your pokémon, I would like you to recall them into their pokéballs and record their data onto your pokédex. That's the first thing a trainer should do when they get a new pokémon."

I froze.

There weren't many things that fazed me, but pokéballs were an exception. When I had been poisoned, I spent a great deal of time inside a pokéball. Weeks, perhaps. I can't be entirely sure, because when inside a pokéball, my perception of time is thrown off.

I don't remember much of the experience, but I do remember that I didn't like it. The thought of being completely defenceless and dependant on human support was unnerving, but the concept of being trapped inside a pokéball for long periods of time was terrifying. If something were to happen to my trainer while I was inside a pokéball, I could possibly never be released again. I would spend many decades trapped inside the device, waiting for the pokéball to deteriorate and eventually destroy me.

It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Beside me, Sonya and Toxose vanished in a beam of red light. I winced before I could stop myself and gave my trainer a wary look, bracing myself for the inevitably. Sure enough, she was holding my pokéball, about to call me into it. When I looked at her, however, she frowned and lowered it again.

"I don't think it wants to," she said simply.

"Oh, don't worry," the scientist replied. "It just isn't used to it. It'll realize there isn't any danger soon enough."

Black looked uncertain.

"Hurry up, would you," Hiro said impatiently. "You're holding us up."

"I have things to do," Kei added.

Black rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she muttered, raising the pokéball once again. "Sorry, slowpoke."

Although I was recalled into the pokéball, which I already knew was an unavoidable fate, I went with a small peace of mind. Black noticed that I was uncomfortable and seemed reluctant to call me.

Hopefully that reluctance will mean less time in the pokéball.

* * *

><p>Author's notes: So I decided to keep it in this pokémon's perspective. :)<p>

Please let me know if you see any mistakes! It's hard to spot them. :P

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own pokémon, just the characters used in this story. ;)


	3. Chapter 2 - Simplicity of the game

It was a strange feeling, being conscious yet unaware of your surroundings. This was another reason why I hated being inside a pokéball. It was like dreaming, but without anything visual.

The only thing I could see was black. That wasn't surprising, seeing as pokémon were turned into raw energy and contained in this device. I had no body. No eyes to see with. I was, at this point, just scattered slowpoke data.

Yet, despite not having a physical brain, I was still capable of thought. I knew that time had passed, but not how much. Minutes, hours, days? I had no way of telling.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wonder for too long before Black released me again.

"-don't need a map! I'm telling you, the pokétch has _everything_," Aki was saying as I materialized on the pavement.

"Maps are more dependable," Black replied flatly. I blinked, trying to focus on my new surroundings. We hadn't moved far at all. We were just outside the pokemon lab. "Besides, I can't afford a pokétch. It's a rip-off."

"But it has all these neat little-"

"Rip-off."

"It's so much better than-"

"Rip-off."

"Well, what about when you _can_ afford it?" Aki huffed.

"I still won't buy it."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a rip-off."

"Aghh!" Aki shouted, grabbing her red hair and yanking it violently. It looked painful, and I couldn't see why anyone would want to pull on their own hair. "You're impossible! Why am I even friends with you?"

"Because you think my brother's hot," Black deadpanned.

"Oh, right."

I looked between the two girls, feeling slightly out-of-place. Why had Black called me out? Was I battling against someone? I couldn't see an opponent.

"Come on, Slade," Black said, walking passed me.

Slade? I glanced around. Only Aki, Black and I were here. Had she named me Slade? It wasn't a bad name, if a bit unexpected. I was under the impression that trainers usually just called their pokémon by their species.

Assuming the name mine, I followed Black.

"Where did Slade even come from?" Aki grumbled, giving me a resentful glare. Confused, I could only stare back at her blankly. I had done no wrong to her. She had no reason to dislike me.

"Presumably other slowpoke."

"You know that's not what I meant," the taller girl sighed, giving her companion an exasperated look. "Why did you name him Slade? He doesn't look like a Slade."

"My brother has a slowbro named Zepplin."

"...What does that have to do with Slade?"

"I don't know," Black admitted. "My brother thought it sounded cool."

"Well, yeah, but-wait, he knew you were getting a slowpoke?"

"_I_ knew I was getting a slowpoke."

"Did you ask for one?"

"No."

Aki gave Black an uncertain look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The opposite of yes."

"No, I mean-damn it Black!"

"Come on. We're wasting daylight. We need to be at least half-way to Cherrygrove city before dark."

Question successfully avoided, Black hefted her backpack and continued onwards. I followed her closely, glad that she wasn't keeping me inside my pokéball. So far, so good; I could have gotten a trainer much worse.

Aki grumbled and followed along, going quiet.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you!"<p>

Aki stopped right away, but Black continued walking. I was torn between following my new trainer and stopping to find out why a young boy was running towards us, followed closely by a rattata.

"Yeah?" Aki replied warily.

"Are you a trainer?" The boy came to a stop in front of Aki, grinning widely.

"What if I am?"

Black finally came to a stop, but stubbornly refused to turn around. It was obvious she was intent on ignoring him.

"I challenge you to a battle!"

Shoulders slumping, Black sighed in resignation. Aki, on the other hand, smirked down at the younger boy.

"You sure you want to do that?"

"Ratty and I have been training for weeks! We can take you," he replied confidently. The rattata by his side nodded, looking determined.

"Pfft, Ratty?" Aki scoffed. The boy looked annoyed, by she didn't give him a chance to defend his partner. "Alright, fine. I accept your challenge, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Great! Go, Ratty!"

"I've got this," the rattata said, bounding forward and baring her impressive teeth at the red-haired girl. "Bring it on."

"Let's do this, Faust!"

Aki fished out a pokéball from her pocket, enlarged it, and released the one called Faust. Red light spilled onto the ground and formed a round, bipedal shape. When the light cleared, it revealed a small yellow pokémon that I wasn't able to identify.

"What are you?" I asked, curious.

"Your worst nightmare, water-type," he replied, spinning his arms. Static crackled off his yellow fur, and I backed up to avoid being zapped.

"Hey, your opponent's over there," Black growled, standing beside me and glaring down at Faust. "Leave Slade alone."

Faust growled back at her, but clearly knew better than to attack a human.

"Faust," Aki barked. "Over here. This kid thinks he can take us. Let's show him a thing or two about electric-types."

"Heh, get ready for elekid 101, rodent," Faust sneered, spinning around to face Ratty.

"Confident, aren't we?" Ratty drawled, not at all impressed by his cocky attitude. "You won't be so confident when this battle ends, I assure you."

"Tch, as if I'd lose to a stupid rat," he spat.

The electricity in the air was already making me uncomfortable. I half-hid behind Black's boots. The static was so little that it wouldn't affect a human, but would bother a water-type such as myself. Black either didn't notice or didn't mind, because she continued to stand there, hands in her pockets and expression bored.

"All right Ratty, use quick attack!"

The rattata sprang forward, quicker than the eye could follow, and slammed head first into Faust's chest. The small electric pokémon slid backwards from the impact, but managed to stay standing.

"Hey!" Aki shouted, looking affronted. "That's not fair! We weren't ready!"

"You're just too slow," the boy shot back. "Ratty, use tail whip!"

"Right!" Ratty affirmed, spinning around and waving her tail in his face. Faust looked insulted.

"Do you really think I'll fall for such a stupid-"

"Quick attack!"

Ratty sprang forward a second time, crashing into Faust. This time he stumbled over, landing at his trainer's feet.

"Ow," he moaned.

"Faust!" Aki yelped, bending down. "Are you okay? Can you keep going?"

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, pushing himself into a sitting position. He glared at the rattata, fur standing on end. "That furball's got quite a punch."

"That's it! Use thunder shock!" Aki shouted, pointing dramatically at Ratty.

"You got it!" Faust yelled, hopping back to his feet and spinning his arms once again. The air around his body crackled with static, and an arch of electricity burst forward.

"Quick attack!"

Ratty sprinted from her spot, launching sideways and avoiding the attack.

"Impressive speed," I noted.

"Why thank you," she said cheerily, coming to a stop in front of us.

"Agh!" Faust cried in annoyance. "You stupid rodent! Stay still!"

He shot another thunder shock at her. She dodged, and the attack lashed at the ground directly in front of us. I winced as static touched my nose, and recoiled slightly.

"Thunder shock! Thunder shock! Thunder shock!" Aki chanted, looking just as annoyed as her pokémon.

The air lit up as Faust fired arch after arch of electricity at the evasive rattata. Ratty, obviously more skilled then Faust previously assumed, zig-zagged across the ground, running this way and that and avoiding every single attack.

"Good job, Ratty!"

"How is it so fast?" Aki asked, flabbergasted.

"Use quick attack," Black intoned.

"Huh?"

"Elekid has a faster base speed," she replied. "Surely your elekid knows quick attack. They learn it at a very low-level."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Ratty, use quick attack on Elekid!"

"Faust-!"

It was too late. Ratty slammed directly into Faust, and down went the elekid. Ratty shuddered, before bounding away and coming to a stop beside her trainer. She looked oddly stiff.

"You shouldn't judge someone by their pokémon," the boy said, looking proud. "Even common pokémon can be strong."

"Shut up," Aki snapped, kneeling beside her fallen partner. "Faust... I'm so sorry. Return."

The dazed elekid was drawn back into his pokéball. Aki clutched the red and white sphere to her chest, looking devastated.

"How could we lose to a dumb kid?" Aki sniffed.

"Who are you calling dumb!?"

"You, obviously!"

The two glared at each other. Ratty trembled slightly, fur spiked up. I tilted my head to the side, wondering why she was acting so strangely. She hadn't taken any damage.

"Hey, what about you?" The boy turned to Black, and she grimaced slightly. "Are you a trainer too?"

"Yes," she replied, sounding extremely reluctant to share that information with him.

"Awesome! I challenge you as well!"

"I wouldn't, if I were you," Black drawled.

"Why? You scared?"

"No."

"Good, then let's battle!"

"Your rattata's been paralysed," she pointed out bluntly, nodding at Ratty.

"Huh?" He whirled around, just as Ratty collapsed onto her side, body stiff and unmoving. "Ratty! What's wrong with her?"

"Faust's ability is static," Black explained. "When your rattata made physical contact with him, she became paralyzed."

"Ah..." He picked his pokemon up, cradling her in his arms. "Ratty..."

"Do you still wish to battle me?" Black asked.

"M-maybe some other time," he stuttered, holding his pokémon protectively. "I've got to go heal Ratty."

"Wise choice. Aki, give him ¥200."

"What!?"

Black gave her a cool stare.

"You lost. You owe him money."

Aki grumbled, fishing out the requested money from her pocket and getting back to her feet. She held it out for the boy to take, looking extremely bitter about doing so.

"Thanks," he said happily, taking the handful of notes. "It was a good battle. See you!"

The boy turned and ran back the way he came from, hugging Ratty to his chest.

"Why didn't you battle him?" Aki demanded once he was gone, stomping her foot. "You knew his rattata was paralysed. You could have won!"

"I didn't feel like it," Black said, turning and walking away. I hurried to follow, grateful that she was keeping a slow pace.

"Hey!" Aki shouted after her, sounding annoyed. "What do you mean you didn't feel like it? You're a trainer now! You can't just ignore challenges like that! What about Slowpoke? How is it going to get any stronger if you don't battle with it?"

"Slade will grow stronger in his own time," she replied.

"You-! I-! Oh, whatever," she huffed, jogging over to walk beside Black. "Just keep in mind that next time, you might not be able to get out of fighting so easily."

"Noted."

* * *

><p>When the sun began to dip behind the distant mountains, Black and Aki stopped to set up camp. Faust was sent out to help Aki set up the tent, and Black wandered off to find firewood. I followed her, feeling it was my duty as her pokémon to assist.<p>

We wandered around, gathering wood. She carried an armful of small sticks, and I carried the larger branches in my mouth whenever we came across one. Between the two of us, we managed to create a substantial pile of firewood to see us through the night.

"Well, what do you know? You're actually useful for something," Faust commented in a snide way when we returned. "Acting as a pack mule."

I dropped the log I was carrying on the ground and glared at him.

"Have I done something to greatly offend you?" I asked, confused by both his and his trainer's hostility towards me.

"Other than existing?"

"My existence is offensive to you?"

"Very much so," he growled, rotating his arms and gathering up static. My fur stood on end as he grew closer, but I stood my ground. "My trainer doesn't like your type."

"Yes, she has not been very inconspicuous about that."

"So? She shouldn't have to be," he hissed, eyes narrowing into slits. "Water-types are all the same."

"That meaning?"

"You're all sly, uncooperative bastards," he spat. By this point he had gotten so close that my skin was itching due to the static he was producing.

"That is quite untrue. I have been rather cooperative to my trainer."

"Tch, right. Like trainer, like pokémon, I suppose."

I narrowed my eyes at him, growing annoyed.

"My trainer has done no wrong, and neither have I," I told him.

"Yet," he said, fur sparking.

"Faust, back off," Black growled, suddenly appearing beside us. "I don't know what your problem is with Slade, but take your issues elsewhere. Slade stays, because he is my partner. There's nothing you can do about it, so get over it."

He bared his teeth at her in a hiss, sparks flying off his body.

"What's going on over there?" Aki shouted from across the clearing.

"Nothing of great importance," Black replied, glaring darkly at the elekid. "Come, Slade. Leave him to his bitching."

She turned and began to walk away, dismissing the pokémon entirely. His eyes flashed furiously, and the static in the air suddenly spiked.

Sensing imminent the danger, I yawned at him.

He turned his attention to me, going from furious to downright murderous. I tensed, bracing myself for impact. Sure enough, the air around him cracked and a bolt of electricity hit me. Although thunder shock was considered a weak electric move, it was still something that I was weak against.

The current raced through me with a painful jerk. I hissed in pain and backed away from him. I wasn't as fast as the rattata, so I couldn't dodge any of his attacks. He seemed to know this, because he grinned demonically and charged up another attack without hesitation.

A boot appeared in front of me, and Faust balked. Black stood in front of me, arms folded and expression dark.

He snarled at her, recovering from his shock and charging up another attack. He didn't care that she was human. He was going to attack anyway.

"Faust! No!" Aki shrieked, sprinting towards us.

"Go ahead," Black said, eyes narrowed.

Faust fired his attack. Aki screamed. I stood and stared in horror. Black didn't even flinch.

Time seemed to slow down and come to a stop.

Electricity was dangerous to pokémon, but to humans it was lethal. Even a weak current can stop a human's heart. There was a difference between a bit of irritating static and an actual thunder shock. There were no two ways about it; this far away, without proper medical attention, Black was going to die.

Then, the electricity curved and changed direction, hitting a tree beside her instead. The bark exploded on impact, bits of wood scattering in different directions. The smell of charred wood filled the air.

Aki screeched to a stop, gaping at her pokémon. Even I was a little surprised. He had changed the course of his attack at the last second.

He wasn't going to harm a human. I should have known.

"Should of... seen your face..." Faust sneered, rocking back on his heels. "Priceless..."

He then fell over, asleep.

"Faust!" Aki shouted, recovering from her shock.

Black blinked, frowning at the fallen elekid. She then glanced down at me, giving me a knowing look.

"What happened to him?" Aki asked, crouching beside him. "Is he dead!?"

"Hardly," Black deadpanned. "See the rise and fall of his chest? That's called breathing. It means he's alive."

"This is no time for jokes!" Aki snapped, gathering up her sleeping pokémon.

"I'm not joking, Aki. He's alive. He's just asleep," Black replied, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "Slade knows the move yawn. He must have used it when we weren't looking. Which, in hindsight, is probably why Faust attacked him."

"Why were they even fighting to begin with?"

"Like trainer, like pokémon," she said. I stared at her blankly. That's exactly what Faust said.

"What?" Aki looked offended, but Black didn't seem fazed.

"Your intense dislike of water-type pokémon has rubbed off on Faust," she explained. "It's a known fact that most pokémon copy their trainer's mannerisms and personality."

Aki didn't reply. She stared down at the ground, looking oddly ashamed.

"Faust isn't a bad pokémon," Black continued. "He missed on purpose. I knew he wouldn't attack me, because Faust knows that attacking a human is certain death. Society wouldn't allow a pokémon so dangerously unstable to survive."

"But... still," Aki muttered. "You could have gotten hurt."

"No," she replied, lifting a foot off the ground. "My boots are rubber. It wouldn't have killed me. The attack was too weak."

Black hadn't been in danger at all, and I felt somewhat foolish for worrying. What she said was true; nearly every pokémon knew not to harm a human.

"Anyway, Faust is still injured from his earlier battle," Black pointed out. "You should at least keep him from moving around too much. Slade, come on. We need to get that fire going before it gets dark."

I nodded and followed Black, picking up the branch in my mouth once again. Aki didn't move from that spot for a long time.


	4. Chapter 3 - Ready, steady, go

After Black kindled the piles of logs and sticks, she crouched down beside me.

"You don't look paralyzed," she noted, looking me over.

Knowing she couldn't understand me, I used a human response and shook my head.

"Good," she said. "It wasn't a strong attack. You'll be fine. Just take it easy for tonight, okay?"

Then she reached out and patted my head. Without another word, she stood up and walked towards the tent.

* * *

><p>My trainer, I soon discovered, was not a morning person.<p>

After giving me my medication, she stayed up most of the night. Aki had fallen asleep beside Black in her own sleeping bag, so Black turned away from her and used a small torch to read away the hours. I slept beside Black, on the edge of her sleeping bag. I could still hear her turning pages when it was well past midnight.

Unlike Black, Aki _was_ a morning person. She woke up once the pidgey started chirping and making a fuss just a little while after dawn. Black continued to snooze until late morning, and she probably would have continued to sleep had Aki not impatiently woken her up and demanded that they continue.

Black was even less cheerful in the morning.

After packing away the tent, making sure the hot embers left over from the fire were thoroughly drenched, and quickly scoffing down some kind of food bars that didn't taste all that appealing, we continued onwards.

Aki marched on ahead, while Black followed at a more sedate speed, which I was once again grateful for.

The red-haired girl released Faust after a while, and he immediately bounded off into the woods surrounding us. A few minutes later, I could hear the indignant screeches of spearow and pidgey, shortly followed by crackling electricity and wicked laughter.

I kept very close to Black, not wanting a repeat of last time Faust and I interacted.

"I want to catch a grass-type," Aki suddenly announced.

"Why?" Black asked, tone heavy with sarcasm. "Isn't Faust good enough to keep the nasty water-types away?"

"No," she growled, then frowned in confusion. "I mean, yes. I mean-this isn't about water-types, okay! I just want a grass-type. Faust is weak against ground-types, so I want a pokémon that can handle that. Besides, grass-types are cute."

Black rolled her eyes.

"And _you_ are going to help me find one," Aki said, grinning widely.

"Great." The way she said the word sounded as if she thought of the activity as anything _but_ great. "Can't you wait until we get to Cherrygrove city? I'd like to have access to indoor plumbing and proper food for a while. You can search for a grass-type there."

"Yeah, I guess," Aki muttered. "A hot bath does sound nice..."

"I also want to get some more pokémon food," Black continued. "I only brought enough for two days."

"And some potions, just in case."

"I have three regular potions," Black said. "I also have two antidotes. They should last until we get to Violet City at least."

"How many pokéballs do you have?"

"One," she said, "and it's Slade's."

"You should get more."

"I don't want more."

"You can't win the tournament with just Slade," Aki said with a sigh, slowing down to walk beside Black. "Hiro's houndour _and_ Kei's shroomish both have an advantage over Slade."

"Advantage isn't everything," Black replied.

"Oh really? How to you plan on winning if you only have one pokémon with a disadvantage against both of your opponents?"

"Strategy."

"Just strategy?"

"And luck."

"Why don't you want another pokémon?" Aki asked, frowning at Black. "You seem to like having Slade. What's the big deal?"

Black opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a loud squawk in the distance, followed by a small explosion. Both trainers glanced at the trees with identical looks of surprise. Black was first to recover, giving Aki a bland look.

"That's why," she intoned.

"Faust!" Aki yelped, taking off in the direction of the explosion.

"Don't run towards it!" Black shouted, dismayed. Aki either ignored her or didn't hear her, because she vanished into the undergrowth. Black gave an exasperated sigh. "Come on, Slade. Let's go make sure she doesn't get herself killed."

I nodded and followed her as she sprinted after her friend. We ran into the bushes, trying to keep up with Aki. The girl was surprisingly fast, though, and we lost her in mere seconds. Black came to a stop in the middle of a small clearing, glancing around.

"Where is she?"

"I do not know," I said, even though she didn't understand me. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Aki!" Black called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Where did you go!?"

"Run!" Aki yelled, bursting out of the bushes with Faust in her arms.

"Run from _what_?" Black said, staring at her companion in confusion. Aki ran passed her, snatching her wrist and giving her a firm tug. "Ow! Hey-"

"Hurry up! Go!"

"What are you going on about?"

The trees suddenly exploded in multiple directions. I was momentarily blinded by a flash of white and chunks of debris flying in all directions. I heard a scream behind me that sounded like Aki, and I glanced back to see the two girls knocked right off their feet the attack and onto the ground.

Things had escalated entirely too fast for me to comprehend.

"You pitiful electric rodent," a rumbling voice growled.

A huge red pokémon crept out of the trees, purple eyes narrowed into slits. I had never seen a pokémon like that before, but I instinctively knew I had a disadvantage. It was a bug-type, and one of the largest I had ever seen.

What had Faust done to anger such a formidable creature?

"I will destroy you and your human trainers," he hissed.

"What pokémon is that?" Aki shrieked.

"Ariados," Black replied, voice tighter than usual. "That move it used was hyper beam, which means it must be a trained pokémon."

"W-what? Why do say that?"

"Because ariados doesn't learn hyper beam naturally," Black explained quickly, getting to her feet. "Slade, put it to sleep."

I used the move yawn on the large insect, but yawn didn't take effect until awhile later. He still had time to cause damage.

"Annoying cretin," he snapped. The ariados spat a glob of white substance from his mouth at me. I didn't have enough time to dodge, and the sticky web hit me in the face. Alarmed, I backed off and tried pawing the stuff off, but it clung stubbornly to my fur and refused to budge. I couldn't see.

"Faust, use thunder shock!" Aki shouted.

"Got it!"

Electricity crackled over me, and I crouched lower to the ground. The bug clicked disdainfully, and then barked out a laugh.

"Do you honestly think you have a chance at defeating one such as I? For disturbing the peace of this forest, I will devour all of you as punishment," he said. I heard him move forward, and I began to back away.

_Devour_ us all as punishment.

We couldn't defeat this pokémon. Faust and I, even with our strengths combined, were much to inexperienced. This creature had an advantage over me, and Faust's attack did hardly any damage.

And yawn _still_ wasn't taking effect.

"What? All I did was shock a few stupid bird pokémon!" Faust yelled, enraged. "Who are you to get pissed off over that? This isn't your forest, insect!"

"This _is_ my forest," he thundered. "I am the protector of the pokémon here! I keep them safe from humans and trained pokémon such as you!"

Something moved beside me, and I tensed and prepared to attack. Fortunately I didn't, because the something then began to remove the webs off my face. I caught a familiar scent, and realized it was my trainer.

"We need to run," Black breathed. I could feel her hands trembling as she struggled to get the web off.

"Aren't you a trained pokémon?" Faust asked. "That girl there said that your kind doesn't learn hyper beam in the wild."

"She is correct, to some extent. I _was_ a trained pokémon. That was a long time ago, and is no longer of any importance," he replied. "The pokémon here respect my strength and depend on me to keep them safe. _That_ is what is important."

"We will leave," I told him, wondering why the move yawn hadn't taken effect by now. Surely he should at least be drowsy. "You do not have to attack us."

"Wrong," he growled. "If I let you leave, then more will come. They will try to get rid of me, and this forest will once again be unprotected. I must kill you all, so that these pokémon remain safe."

"We need to go," Black repeated. Aki had gone completely silent, and Black seemed well on her way to a mental breakdown. Things were not looking positive. I had to think.

"If you kill us, then even more people will come," I replied.

"Then I will kill them, too!"

"The humans will come prepared," I explained. "Once word spreads that a dangerous pokémon lurks in this forest, powerful humans with powerful pokémon will come here to kill you. Crowds will gather, trainers will arrive, and many of the pokémon here will either be caught or chased away."

"Really," he rumbled, sounding thoughtful. "Humans would go to that extent for just two of their kind?"

"Yes, they would. If two trainers suddenly go missing, humans will come here to search for them," I said. Black finally managed to peel the sticky web off my fur, and I blinked as sunlight assaulted my eyes, squinting up at the massive bug-type. "However, if you spare these humans, they will consider this entire situation a warning and stay away. If you wish to protect this forest and it's inhabitants, let us leave this place unharmed."

The ariados mulled over this silently.

I glanced back as Aki stood up, clutching a pokéball in one hand. All thoughts of surviving through this ordeal immediately vanished when she enlarged the empty device.

"Aki, wait, don't!" Faust shouted, also noticing.

Too late.

The girl tossed the pokéball at the bug-type. In one swift motion, he swatted the pokéball aside with a purple and yellow leg, sending it sailing into a nearby tree. It cracked upon impact and fell to the ground, useless.

She had failed to catch him, and now he was furious.

"How _dare_ you attempt to capture me, you pathetic trainer!" His horn began to glow, and I felt my heart sink. Hyper beam. "I will destroy you all, regardless of the consequences!"

Behind me, Faust began to crackle with undischarged static. I braced myself for impact, tensing my muscles and preparing to jump. Black reached inside her scarf and pulled out my pokéball.

"Donnie, wait!"

It was almost comical how quickly everything seemed to freeze.

The ariados stopped preparing his hyper beam and made a strange clicking sound that almost sounded guilty. Black looked unsure, as if she couldn't decide whether to return me or not. Aki was pale and shaken. Faust was _still_ sparking.

A woman ran out from the trees unexpectedly, and stood between us and the bug-type.

"You can't hurt them! If you do, you'll be taken away!"

"That girl attempted to catch me," he rumbled, gesturing a leg towards the cracked pokéball.

"I know," she said, glancing between 'Donnie' and the pokéball. "I saw what happened. That's what trainers do. I know it's not right, and she shouldn't have tried to take you from this forest, but harming them will only makes things so much worse! Please, just let them go with a warning."

"A warning?" Donnie growled. He turned his head towards me, then slowly looked towards Aki. The red-haired girl shrunk back in fear. "Hmph. Very well. I will let them go with a warning. However, next time they won't be so lucky. It would do you best to remember that, electric pest."

Faust grit his teeth and crackled dangerously, but knew better than to respond waspishly. Instead, he dipped his head in submission, static calming down to a sizzle. His fur still stood on end, but his overall attitude seemed to placate the ariados.

"Leave now," he said, waving a leg at us dismissively. "Let this be your first and only warning."

"Thank you," the woman said, bowing low. She then turned to Aki and none to gently grabbed her arm. "Hurry up and move it. You too, slowpoke-girl."

Black stood up and gave the ariados a wary look, before following the woman back towards the path. I travelled behind my trainer, trying to ignore the icy glare the bug-type was giving us as we left.

Before we got to the path, Faust slowed down to a stop beside me. I was instantly suspicious.

"Hey," he said uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his head. "You know, if you hadn't tried to convince him to let us go, we'd all probably be dead."

"He would have killed us anyway," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but that's 'cause Aki kind of screwed us over," he sighed. "You managed to stall enough time for that woman to swoop in and save us, so... well... I guess what I'm trying to say is... uh..."

"It is fine," I told him. "We are traveling together now. We must look out for each other, lest we fail."

"Ahuh," Faust said distractedly. "Look, don't let this go to your dopey head, 'cause I still hate you water-types... but... thanks for trying. Even though I've kinda been a jerk to you."

I nodded. I still wasn't sure why Faust despised water-types so much, but he honestly didn't seem to be a bad pokémon, just as my trainer said. Perhaps with work and patience, we may even be able to get along.

Maybe.

The unnamed woman dragged Aki through the bushes and onto the path, then released her and spun around to glare at the two girls.

"You're not from around here, are not?"

"Well, actually..." Aki started, pointing in the direction of New Bark Town. She was ashen and shaky, and I was a bit worried that Aki was about to faint.

"Because if you are, then you're awfully stupid," the woman said scathingly.

"What!" Aki yelped in protest. She no longer looked sick. "Just because we-"

"_Or_ you're the worst trainers that I've _ever _come across," she continued relentlessly. "One of those three."

"We're not stupid and we're not bad trainers!" Aki snapped.

"We are from around here, though," Black intoned.

"Oh really? Where from?"

"New Bark Town," Aki said through gritted teeth. "Just because we had a bad run-in with a wild pokémon doesn't mean we're stupid!"

"So you must be newbies," the woman sighed, propping a hand on her hip. "I should have known. You new trainers are always causing trouble around here, and I'm always the one to save you reckless lot."

"It wasn't our fault!" Aki shouted, stomping her foot angrily. "And we didn't ask for your help!"

"You would have died without it," she scoffed, pushing her sunglasses down a bit and glaring at Aki. "Donnie protects this forest. He would do anything to keep the pokémon here safe. You must have done something to piss him off, because he doesn't just attack trainers on whim."

"We didn't do anything!" Aki protested.

"Eh, actually..." Faust spoke up, guiltily rubbing the back of his head. "I was kinda running around zapping all the birds for target practise. They're easy experience, see. And I _may_ have made fun of this Donnie guy when he told me to get lost, so... hm... my bad."

"Sounds like your elekid's involved," the woman said blankly, pushing her sunglasses back up. "Look, I've wasted enough time as it. Just keep your pokémon under control, okay? Next time you might not be so lucky."

With that, she pushed past the two trainers and headed towards New Bark Town without another word. Once she was out of hearing range, Aki huffed and folded her arms across her chest.

"Who does she think she is? Calling us stupid," she growled.

"She _did_ save our lives," Black pointed out.

"We would have been fine without her," Aki snapped. No one felt courageous enough to correct Aki, so we all remained silence. "Faust, no more running off. Black, keep a better eye on your water-type. Slade, next time don't make wild pokémon mad."

With that, she spun around and stormed off.

"...Does someone want to explain to me how this is our fault?" Black asked dryly, looking down at Faust and I.

"Yeah, she gets like that," Faust sighed.

"I do not understand how she came to the conclusion that I angered him," I muttered.

"Eh, she's just pissed that things didn't go her way," Faust replied with a shrug. "She'll get over it. We better follow, before she gets even more annoyed."

Faust jogged after his trainer. Black followed at a slower pace, looking contemplative.

"He didn't go to sleep," she mused.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Although she couldn't understand me, Black would surely hear my questioning tone.

"The ariados," she replied. "You used yawn. He should have gone to sleep. I thought yawn always worked. Is there something I'm missing? Perhaps an immunity? Or ability? I'll have to look into it."

I was wondering about that too. I had never encountered an ariados before. Usually the best way to get myself out of trouble was to put my opponent to sleep, but if yawn didn't always work I would need a better strategy. Something more foolproof.

"I would not worry about it," I told her.

"Hm," Black hummed. "Come on, we better catch up."

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon by the time we reached Cherrygrove City. Aki and Black both looked tired, but Aki was definitely more vocal about it.<p>

"_Finally_," Aki exclaimed, slouching over from exhaustion. "Let's go book a room at the pokémon center, drop off our bags, and go find the nearest spa."

"I think there's one on the west side of the city," Black informed her, looking down at her map. "There's a pokémon shop nearby as well. I'm going to head there first and get it out of the way."

"Just do it tomorrow," the red-haired trainer told her, waving a hand dismissively. "We have plenty of time."

"I don't want to risk forgetting," she replied, rolling the map up and stuffing it back into her backpack. "The pokémon center's not far from here. Let's go before it gets dark."

"Yeah, okay," Aki agreed tiredly.

The four of us spent a good ten minutes wandering around the streets, looking for the pokémon center. Thanks to Black's map, it wasn't too difficult to find the white building with the red roof.

"Hey, why don't we get Faust and Slade checked out while we're here?" Aki suggested as we walked through the automated doors.

"Sounds like a plan," Black replied as our group moved over to the front counter. "Excuse me? Can we rent a room here for the night?"

"Two nights," Aki chimed in.

A pink haired nurse jerked to attention on the other side, looking up from her computer.

"Oh, hello! Sorry, I didn't see you there," she apologized. "What was that? Two nights? Sure, let me check."

The nurse spent a few seconds typing and clicking, before she broke into a small frown.

"I'm sorry, but we're all booked out tonight," she informed us.

"What? Seriously?" Aki gaped, horrified. "That can't be right! You must have _somewhere_ for us to sleep! Check again."

Black elbowed Aki in the arm.

"Ow..."

"We'll keep looking," Black told the nurse, dipping her head. "Thank you for your time. Let's go, Aki."

"I'm very sorry," the nurse said again. "Good luck."

Black nodded and turned to leave. Aki sighed and followed, dragging her feet as she went.

Once we were outside, Black once again yanked out her map.

"If we don't find a hotel to stay in, we can always camp somewhere," she said.

"Why don't we try the spa resort?" Aki suggested. "I mean, that's a hotel too, right?"

"We can't afford something like that," Black replied, shaking her head. "Besides, I doubt they'll have a room for us at such short notice. Places like that usually requires booking a room days in advance."

"Well, it's worth a try," she insisted. "If we can't get a room there, we can always camp on the beach."

"I think they have rules against that," Black pointed out.

"Can we at least _try_?"

"Fine," Black sighed, brows furrowing in annoyance. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

><p>Author's notes: I forgot to add a disclaimer in the previous chapter, but I think you all know that I don't own pokémon.<p>

Also, I have actually written eight chapters already, but I'm not quite sure if I should post them all at once, or make a time frame. Maybe one a week? Or, if I really feel motivated, maybe one every few days? I don't know. Things will be more difficult when I go to uni next year, so I'll have to see.

On another note, I would like to thank **Alphinia** for reviewing and giving me some constructive feedback! It means a lot to me. :)

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own pokémon, just the characters used in this story. :)


	5. Chapter 4 - The way the dice rolls

"I told you."

"Shut up."

Predictably, the hotel was full as well. Even if it wasn't, the price for a room was well out of my trainer's price range. The man at the front desk sniffed disdainfully at the two girls when they asked for a room, and his xatu cawed at Faust and I mockingly when we were forced to leave. Overall, it wasn't a great experience, and it put Aki in a rather foul mood.

Luckily Black found a small area for campers not far from the beach, and we were able to set up a tent and fire just before nightfall.

Black rummaged through her bags for a bit, before producing a small, handheld torch.

"Where are you going?" Aki grumbled, prodding the fire with a stick moodily.

"There's a bathroom with showers at the beach," she replied, clicking the torch on and off experimentally. "It might not be hotel-room quality, but it's better than nothing."

"Does it have hot water?" Aki asked, perking up.

"Most likely."

"Wait for me," she said, getting up off the ground. "What about our fire?"

"The bathroom isn't very far away. It should be fine."

I hovered beside Black uncertainly. She was grabbing a change of clothes out of her backpack, along with a small plastic bag containing human hygiene tools. I wasn't sure if I was meant to stay and give them time to groom themselves, or follow to make sure nothing bad happened to them.

I looked over at Faust to see what he would do, but the electric-type was curled up and asleep beside the fire.

Now I had another problem. Stay here with Faust to make sure nothing attacked him while he was asleep and vulnerable, or go with Black and Aki because they were human and couldn't protect themselves all that well.

They had each other, at least. Faust would be on his own.

"You can stay if you want," Black said, as if sensing my inner turmoil. I gave her an uncertain look. "We won't be long. Just stay here."

She yanked a tin of pokémon food out.

"Here, eat this if you're hungry," she told me, pulling out a plate as well. "I know it's not the greatest, but we've run out of the stuff I bought from the store. This is the complimentary pokémon food they gave us at the lab. I'll grab some more water-type food tomorrow."

By the time we set up camp, it was too late for Black to head over to the store like she wanted to. She vowed to swing around and grab some supplies tomorrow while Aki spent some time at the beach, then spent the rest of the day training. I wasn't sure what to make of that, since last time I tried to fight we were almost obliterated by a hyper beam.

Black set down the plate of pokémon food, then she and Aki headed off in search of the bathroom.

Although I wasn't particularly hungry, I ate the food I was given. From experience I knew that food wasn't always available, and trainers-especially young, inexperienced ones-made mistakes and often forgot things. Black didn't seem like the type to forget something as vital as food, but even still, unpredictable things happened and I didn't want to risk starving to death.

I wasn't sure if Faust had already ate, but the elekid was tired out from all the terrorizing he was doing earlier and I decided against waking him to find out.

Sure enough, a short while later the humans returned wearing different clothes and chatting animatedly. Or, rather, Aki was doing most of the talking and Black was adding a comment in when she got the chance.

"Warmth!" Aki exclaimed happily once they reached the camp, immediately sitting down beside the fire again. She seemed to have mellowed out now that she was better groomed, which was a good thing.

"I'm going to bed," Black announced, walking over to the tent.

"Now? It's only seven," Aki pointed out.

"Seven thirty, actually," my trainer corrected, "and I'm not going to sleep, I'm just reading."

"Of course," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "What are you reading anyway? Isn't carrying around a lot of books while you're travelling kind of hard?"

"I only have two books, and they're useful" Black replied.

"What are they?"

"Trainer's Guide To Living In The Wilderness, and a naming book."

"Why a naming book? Don't tell me you're pregnant."

Black gave her a flat look.

"For naming pokémon," she said dryly. "I'm horrible with names."

"Slade isn't a bad name..."

"I told you, that was my brother's idea."

"Oh yeah. That hottie's got all the things going for him, doesn't he?" Aki grinned. Black rolled her eyes and vanished into the tent without another word.

* * *

><p>It was much later at night-perhaps even very early in the morning-when Aki woke us all up with a high-pitched scream.<p>

Black bolted into a sitting position. Since I was half-laying on her stomach, I was sent sprawling into her lap in a rather undignified manner.

"Wha? Huh?" Faust murmured sleepily from the other side of the tent. "What's going on?"

The red-haired girl had struggled out of her sleeping bag and was staring at it in horror. Her face was pale, and she was hyperventilating.

"What's wrong?" Black asked tiredly, stifling a yawn.

"There's something in my sleeping bag," Aki wheezed out. "Something small and cold and-and it _touched_ me. Black, get it out. Throw it outside!"

"Calm down," she drawled, rubbing her eyes.

"Calm down? _Calm down_!? What if it's a ekans!?" Aki shrieked. "It brushed my leg! It _touched _me! What if it bit me? What then!?"

"I have antidotes," Black replied, unzipping her sleeping bag and shuffling out. "I doubt it's a ekans. There aren't many around here. If anything, it's probably a weedle."

Somehow, Aki paled even further.

Black lifted the sleeping bag and peeked inside. Aki openly gaped at her.

"I think it's a caterpie," Black announced.

"A caterpie?" Aki repeated, calming down slightly. "Is that it?"

"I think so. It looks caterpie-shaped. Could you grab my torch? It's near my book," Black said, reaching out blindly. Aki complied, dropping the torch in Black's open hand. "Thanks. Now, let's see."

Light filled the tent, and Black blinked a few times to clear her vision.

"Yeah, that's a caterpie," she said.

"Hm? Oh, hello human," a sleepy voice said from inside Aki's sleeping bag. A female, by the sounds of it. "Why are you shining a light at me?"

"It's kind of cute," Aki muttered, peering over Black's shoulder.

"How the heck did a caterpie get in here?" Faust asked, squinting at the sleeping bag suspiciously.

"I'm going to catch it!" Aki declared.

"Wait, what?" Faust said, sounding affronted. "Aren't I good enough for you? We don't need some stupid bug on our team."

The caterpie said nothing to defend herself.

"I thought you wanted a grass-type," Black pointed out.

"I'll get a grass-type later," Aki said dismissively. "A bug-type will be good against grass, anyway. It'll make catching it easier. Also, Faust's electric attacks are weak to grass, so a bug-type's a good addition."

"When you put it like that..."

"Okay, so... hold on. Stay right there," she said, crawling over to her bag. She unzipped it and shuffled around for a few seconds, throwing a few clothes to the side in her haste. She finally managed to locate an empty pokéball, yanking it out and scooting back over to her sleeping bag. "Right, so... how do I do this?"

"Just tap the caterpie with the pokéball," Black replied.

"Don't I have to weaken it?"

"No. It looks tired," she pointed out. "Caterpie have a high catch rate as well. It shouldn't be too difficult to catch."

"Oh, okay." Aki scrambled up beside the sleeping bag and peeked in. "Hey there, little caterpie. I'm going to catch you now, okay?"

"Okay," she said agreeably.

I blinked in shock. Not many pokémon were so casual about being caught. Some pokémon dedicated their lives to being caught, and some detested the very idea of it. This caterpie seemed like she could go either way, and that was rather unusual.

Aki reached inside and tapped the caterpie lightly. She vanished in a stream of red light, and just like that Aki had captured her.

It was all rather anticlimactic.

Aki stared down at the ball with an unreadable expression. Faust also looked a bit put-off.

"Well," she muttered.

"Huh," Black added intelligently. "I'm going back to sleep now."

She clicked the torch off, tossed it aside, and collapsed back into her original position. Now aware of my trainer's reaction when woken up suddenly, I slept beside her rather than on top of her. Being thrown around was never fun.

"I have a new team mate!" Aki said happily. "Black, I need to borrow your naming book."

"In the morning," Black murmured tiredly, rolling onto her side and facing away from Aki. "Sleep now."

"Okay, yeah, good idea," Aki agreed, lying back down. She clutched the pokéball to her chest, looking positively enthralled. "I can't believe I caught my first pokémon."

Black didn't respond, busy trying to get back to sleep.

* * *

><p>Once again, Aki was the first one to wake up.<p>

Black continued to sleep, and for a while I dozed beside her. When Aki started handing out food, though, I crawled out of the tent as well, if only to meet the caterpie.

Faust was half-heartedly munching on some pokémon food, giving the caterpie a mistrustful stare. She didn't seem to care, because she was contentedly munching on her own food with a half-lidded stare. I was a little surprised when Aki gave me food as well, considering her earlier hostility towards me.

"There you go. All fed," she said cheerily. "Once you're done, let's head down to the beach. I could use a tan."

Once Faust and the nameless caterpie were finished eating, Aki returned them, gathered up her stuff and pranced off towards the beach. I noticed her pinch the naming book from Black's bag as well.

I stayed behind, lounging on the soft grass and waiting for my trainer to wake up. It was almost midday when Black finally roused.

She stumbled around the camp for a bit, not fully conscious. She managed to grab a new set of clothes and headed off in the direction of the bathroom. Ten minutes later she returned in a different outfit, looking a lot more awake.

"Okay, pokémon store," she said, stuffing her belongings in her bag. I wondered why she didn't just leave her backpack at camp, since it was obvious the humans were planning on spending another night in Cherrygrove City. Perhaps it was for convenience sake. "Let's go Slade. We'll pick up breakfast along the way."

I had no way of telling her that I'd already eaten, so I followed along quietly.

We walked around the city for a bit. Black seemed more inclined to take her time without Aki around. She stopped at a store on the way and bought a hunting knife. I was a little concerned at first, but decided that it was probably for the best that she had some way to defend herself. Knifes were also a useful tool in the human world, since rarely did they eat raw meat. They did all sorts of strange things to their kill before they decided it was good enough to consume.

She stopped at another store that stunk so strongly of artificial scents that it hurt my nose. I spent a total of four seconds in there before I was forced to retreat and wait outside. Black didn't stay in there long either, so I don't believe it was just me bothered by the smell.

We arrived at the pokémon store a short while later. Black wandered around, mostly grabbing potions and antidotes. She hesitated at the pokéball section, but after a brief conversation with the man at the counter she purchased two strange-looking pokéballs. She also grabbed a single paralyse heal, just in case, and couple of small tablet-like items that I couldn't identify.

Then, after stuffing everything in her backpack, we both left.

And promptly ran into Toxose and Kei.

"Woah, dude," the shroomish said, bouncing over to me. "What are the chances? This is totally way out, man."

"Hello, Toxose," I greeted.

"Nah, dude. It ain't Toxose any more. The name's Cordell," he corrected.

I supposed that made sense. Without a way to communicate, Kei would have changed his name to something else. I was lucky. Before I met Black, I was nameless.

"Well, well," Kei said, pushing his glasses up his nose and smirking. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Kei," Black greeted dryly. Although Black wasn't the most expressive human by any means, I had already forgotten just how emotionless she could be. She was like this when we first met as well. Was it something about this boy that bothered her? He didn't seem like a bad person, if a little conceited.

"What brings you here?" Kei asked, eyeing her backpack.

"Supplies," she replied curtly. "If you'll excuse me, I must be going."

Without another word, Black turned and walked away. Kei chuckled slightly, and my fur stood on end. Black came to a stop a few steps away, looking uncomfortable.

"Kuro," he said, rolling her name on his tongue. "Do you know what happens when two trainer's eyes meet? Of course you do. Professor Oak taught us all together, after all. We both know the rules."

I could see why Black didn't like him. There was something undeniably unpleasant about Kei.

Black grunted an affirmative.

"Well then," he said smoothly, lips upturned in a smug smirk. "I challenge you, Suchīru Kuro, to a pokémon battle. One on one. Winner receives half of the loser's money."

That was a lot.

I gave the boy a wary look. Even Toxose-apologies,_ Cordell-_-looked oddly uncomfortable. The grass-type was shuffling around beside his trainer, looking this way and that.

"You can refuse, of course," he continued. "However, that means automatic defeat and half of your money. Your choice."

Black hissed softly under her breath, then turned to face him with a stony expression.

"Fine," she grunted. "Slade, you up for a battle?"

I wasn't. I didn't want to fight Cordell. He was one of my few friends, and the thought of harming him wasn't very appealing.

At the same time, I expected this. We were given to rivals, after all. I would have to fight him, and maybe even Sonya, sooner or later.

I didn't want to refuse my trainer either. She didn't ask much of me, and it _was_ my job to fight for her. Not many trainers even asked their pokémon if they wanted to fight or not. I was being given a choice, which was rare in the pokémon world. My trainer was good, and I owed her at least this much.

I nodded and stepped forward, ignoring my instincts in favour of pleasing my trainer. I could do this. I _had_ to do this.

"Cordell," Kei commanded. The grass-type hopped forward, looking unsettled.

"Sorry about this dude," he sighed. "My trainer's kind of... not cool, sometimes. He's not a bad dude, he's just a little hungry for the power, you dig?"

"I understand." I didn't. My trainer wasn't power-hungry. I didn't understand at all.

Humans on the street were noticing the commotion and stopping to watch. Soon enough, a small crowd formed around us, only increasing my anxiety.

"No hard feelings?" Cordell asked.

"Of course not," I said.

"I'll let the lady go first," Kei said with a thin smile. Black narrowed her eyes at him.

"Slade, yawn," she commanded.

I obeyed without question, of course. Cordell hopped backwards, but wasn't fast enough to dodge.

"Oh man, that is so not groovy," he muttered.

"A time limit, hm? We can beat you before the yawn sets in," Kei said smoothly. "Use absorb, Cordell!"

How predictable.

I hissed in discomfort when the small grass-type drew energy from me. It was an odd feeling, suddenly losing a chunk of my energy. I felt sluggish and unfocused, and it had only been _one_ absorb. The next would surely knock me out.

"Tackle," Black said. Those were my only two moves. Yawn was already taking effect, so tackle was the only available option.

Although slowpoke weren't known for their speed, shroomish weren't the fastest pokémon either. I managed to leap forward and ram my shoulder into Cordell, knocking the grass-type backwards. He tumbled over, dazed.

"Now back up."

Confused but trusting her judgement, I hastily shuffled backwards, putting some distance between Cordell and I.

"Follow it!" Kei ordered. "Keep using absorb!"

"Tackle," Black said the second Cordell hopped back to his feet. Caught off-guard, I managed to slam into him before he pulled off another absorb, once again knocking him over. "Back up again."

Was this some kind of tactic? Shove him down, move away so he wasn't able to use absorb, then slam into him the second he got up? It wasn't a bad plan, but Cordell caught onto it almost instantly. Instead of hopping back up, he rolled sideways and leapt to his feet, well out of my range.

Without needing to be told, he used absorb. I winced and tried to focus. It was getting difficult. I wasn't feeling well either. My muscles burned and I was having trouble breathing.

"Dude," the shroomish drawled, swaying on his feet. "I think I need to take my daily siestas."

"Just a couple more absorbs should do it," Kei said. "Keep it up, Cordell!"

He groaned and managed to pull off another absorb, despite his obvious exhaustion.

My vision blurred and I crouched down low to the ground. Why was breathing so difficult? Why did everything hurt to move? Absorb didn't do that. It just took the targets energy and transferred it to the user. It wasn't supposed to hurt. Not to this extent.

"I forfeit."

Even through my hazy pain I was surprised to hear those words come out of my trainer's mouth. I tried to look at her, but my head felt heavy and my body refused to budge an inch.

At that moment Cordell collapsed. He fell forward, asleep and vulnerable, but even if I wanted to I couldn't get up to defeat him.

We were both stuck at a standstill. It was just as well Black chose to forfeit.

"Very well," Kei said smugly, returning his shroomish.

"Slade, return," Black said.

That was the last thing I remember before everything turned white and I was once again drawn into my pokéball.

* * *

><p>Author's notes: Okay, so I've decided to post a chapter every Monday. :)<p>

Once again, thank you **Alphinia **for reviewing! It keeps me motivated. Even the amount of views I'm getting is keeping me motivated. xD

As always, if anyone spots any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon, just the characters in this story.


	6. Chapter 5 - Winners and losers

I found out later that I had been poisoned.

"It wasn't a fair fight," Black told me afterwards. "Kei knew that he had the advantage, and he knew that his shroomish had the effect spore ability. We all did our research on the three starters, so he also knew that your only attacks were yawn and tackle. He _knew_ that you'd have to get close to deal damage, and that you'd probably get a status condition as a result. That's why he was so smug when he challenged us, the bastard."

Black kept me at the pokémon centre for an hour. She wanted to make sure the poison had run its course. I recovered quickly and regained my energy, but Black refused to leave until she was sure I was completely healthy again. She sat in the waiting room the entire time.

By the time she was convinced that I was okay to leave, it was already getting dark again.

We headed back to camp. Fortunately she didn't return me to my pokéball, but she kept giving me unsubtle glances as we weaved through the dying crowds on the street.

Aki was already back when we arrived, barefoot and lounging beside the fire, looking through the naming book. Faust was throwing leaves into the fire and watching them burn, and the caterpie was sleeping beside her trainer.

Once Aki noticed us enter the clearing, she sat up and grinned.

"I found a place where we can eat tonight," she announced. "It's a little seafood restaurant not too far from here. Pokémon friendly _and_ affordable. Can we go?"

"Okay," Black said. Aki blinked.

"That was easy," she muttered.

"I'm tired and agreeable right now."

"Oh. Can we go clothes shopping before we leave tomorrow?"

"I'm not _that_ agreeable," she said dryly, narrowing her eyes at the red-haired trainer.

"Damn. Well, I'll take what I can," Aki said, sitting up and reaching towards her flip-flops. "Let's go. I'm starving."

We traveled along the coast. The sun was setting behind the ocean horizon, casting an impressive display of colours across the sky. It was slightly cold, but otherwise a nice evening.

That is, until Black was challenged to yet another battle.

"He just got over being poisoned," Black told the small girl who had run over to her. "I don't want to make him fight again. At least not today."

"Well, then you lose," an older boy said, standing beside the girl. They looked similar, so I assumed they were siblings. "You owe us money."

Black gave the two younger humans a flat stare.

After losing against Kei, she couldn't afford to lose any more money. I had no idea what pokémon the two children owned, but I knew that I was feeling better enough to fight.

I gently head butted Black's leg, and she glanced down at me.

"I can fight," I told her, hoping I got my point across.

"I think he wants to go for it," Aki translated.

"Maybe," Black muttered. "I still don't want to risk it. I'll just give them the money."

"No! Wait," Aki said, turning towards the two kids. "How about a double battle? Us two against you two. You're a pokémon trainer too, right kid?"

"Yeah," the boy replied, pulling out a pokéball from his pocket.

"Okay," the girl said, smiling. "Let's do a double battle! It'll be fun!"

"I don't know," my trainer said uneasily.

"You worry too much," I told her, amused. It was normal for trainers to worry about their pokémon, but not to the extent of holding off battles. I wasn't sure whether to be touched or offended that Black was so concerned about me getting hurt.

"Come on," Aki said, elbowing Black in the arm. "Slade and Faust against whatever pokémon these guys have. We've got this."

The caterpie didn't seem to mind being left out. She sat on Aki's shoulder, munching contentedly on a leaf.

"Fine," Black said with a sigh. "Slade, are you sure?"

I made sure to nod very prominently.

"Go, Faust!"

The elekid and I walked forward, standing in front of our trainers.

"Sentret," the girl said, releasing an unusually small, furry rodent pokémon. It sat on its striped tail, regarding us curiously.

"Hoothoot!" A flying-type came out next, standing on one, awkward leg. It tilted its head and narrowed its huge red eyes.

Both pokémon I was familiar with. That was a good start.

"Yes!" Aki hissed under her breath. "Type advantage!"

"Don't let it go to your head," Black murmured. Then, in a louder voice, she addressed the two children. "The winners pays the losers ¥100. Does that sound fair?"

"Make it ¥200," the boy said.

"Sam," the girl said, giving her brother a pleading look. "We can't afford that..."

"_We_ aren't going to lose," he replied confidently. "¥200!"

Aki and Black shared a look.

"Uh... okay," Aki agreed after a moment's hesitation.

"Hoothoot, use hypnosis!" Sam shouted.

"Hey! We weren't ready!" Aki snapped. "Faust, look away! It can only affect you if you look it in the eye!"

"You too Slade," Black added. I tilted my head away from the flying-type, instead focusing on the sentret. "Use yawn."

Following her usual strategy, I yawned. Unlike hypnosis, it wasn't a move you could simply look away from, and the sentret was affected. Unfortunately, the hoothoot wasn't.

"Tackle the elekid! Take it down as quick as possible!"

"Don't let it get close to you, Faust! Keep your distance and snipe with thunder shocks!" Aki shouted.

"Gotcha," he said, doing just as she commanded.

"Tackle the hoothoot," Black spoke up. "Try to keep it away from Faust."

I leapt in front of the flying-type, cutting it off with a tackle of my own. It crashed into me, but I had size on my side. It hurt, but the hoothoot was the one who rolled away. I stood my ground.

"Sentret, scratch!"

The sentret scurried forward. It became immediately obvious that the sentret was young and very inexperienced by the way it almost tripped over its own paws, and I suddenly felt guilty for having to battle a pokémon that had only recently hatched.

It pounced at me, swiping a paw at my face. I stepped back and it tumbled by, falling onto its side before quickly scrambling back up. It's claws hadn't even glowed.

"How old is that sentret?" Black asked in a dry voice.

"Uh," the girl muttered. "She hatched yesterday."

Black smacked her forehead with her hand.

"What? Seriously?" Aki spoke up, eyes wide. "You're making a _baby_ fight?"

"You realize that a newly hatched pokémon is only level one, right?" Black sighed, glaring at the kids from between her fingers.

"We know that!" Sam snapped.

"She needs experience," the girl said quietly.

"Faust is level seven," Aki growled, glaring darkly at the boy. "I don't know what Slade is, but he's a higher level than that sentret!"

"Five," Black said.

That was news to me. When I had been taken from Slowpoke Well, the nurses at the pokémon centre said my level was four. I had done very little battling since then, but somehow I had gained a level.

Or so said my trainer.

"So what?" Sam shot back. "Hoothoot's level four! We can take you!"

"I'm not fighting a baby pokémon!" Aki shouted.

"Then you lose!"

"Just because we're not beating a newly hatched pokémon into submission doesn't mean we lost, you little brat!"

"Then fight!"

"Tackle it," Black ordered, "but gently."

I hesitated briefly, before slowly moving forward and nudging the tiny sentret with my nose. She fell over and immediately started crying. Alarmed, I backed off and gave Black a worried look.

"Case closed," she deadpanned.

The sentret turned and ran for her trainer. The girl knelt and picked her up, holding the normal-type on her lap.

"Sentret..."

"It'll never get stronger unless it toughens up," her brother grunted. "Hoothoot, keep going! Tackle your way past the slowpoke!"

Although the attack caught me off-guard, I was still bigger and still had the upper hand. The hoothoot merely tumbled backwards, looking dazed. I took the opportunity to yawn at him too.

"Hoothoot! Hypnosis!"

"Quick attack!"

The attacks were almost shouted at the same time. A yellow blur appeared in front of me just as the hoothoot's eyes were beginning to glow. Faust managed to hit the hoothoot and knock him back a bit, but then the elekid instantly collapsed.

Hypnosis didn't hit as often as yawn, but it definitely worked faster.

I shook my head, clearing the slight drowsiness. Faust had unwilling taken that attack, which wasn't exactly a good thing. Faust had a better chance at defeating this opponent with his electric attacks.

Then again, the sentret was out. She had fallen asleep in her trainer's arms. Which meant it was just me and a very weak, clearly paralyzed hoothoot.

The hoothoot glared at me and hopped back slightly, flapping his stubby wings.

"Use tackle!"

The hoothoot wobbled forward slightly, than fell over, asleep. I was glad. I didn't know whether some hoothoot had the insomnia ability, but this one obviously didn't.

The battle was over.

"Yes!" Aki shouted. She ran over to her fallen electric-type and picked him up. "Good job, Faust. Return and take a short rest."

"Return," the boy said, glaring bitterly at Aki. The hoothoot vanished in a beam of red light.

"Thank you, Slade," Black said. I glanced back at her and noticed she was frowning. She appeared more thoughtful than annoyed, so I wasn't overly worried about it.

"You cheated," Sam accused.

"Excuse me?" Aki said, affronted. "We won fair and square, you little pest!"

"You put both our pokémon to sleep! That's not fair!"

"Yawn is a perfectly legal move," Black replied, voice tight. "Slowpoke learn it naturally. Even in the wild, without a trainer."

"You still cheated! Your pokémon were higher level!"

"How is that _our_ fault?" Aki demanded. "Your sister's the one who sent out a baby!"

"Leave my sister out of this!"

"I'm just stating facts, you little brat!"

Black sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said flatly. "I'm leaving. Come on, Slade."

I nodded and followed, casting one last glance at the two siblings. The girl was tugging at her brother's arm, urging him to let it go. Sam was still locked in a bickering match with Aki, though, and as such was completely ignoring the small girl.

Fortunately, Aki noticed Black leaving. She spat some last words at the boy, then stomped over to us.

"The nerve of that kid!" Aki spat. "He didn't even pay us, and he has the nerve to say we cheated? What a little brat!"

Black wisely stayed silent.

"I mean, _they_ were the ones who challenged us to begin with! All we wanted was to go eat dinner! We didn't _have_ to accept their challenge. They should be grateful."

We would have lost by default if we didn't accept, but Black was thoughtful enough not to mention that. Instead, Black sighed and ran a gloved hand through her hair.

"I can't work with just two moves," she muttered.

"Huh?" My trainer's seemingly random comment was enough to throw Aki off-guard and distract her for the time being. Although that was a good thing, I doubt Black did it purposely.

"Yawn and tackle," she replied, slipping her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. "The reason I'm part of the advanced training program is because I scored high in the strategy exam at school. Theory is good and all, but real battling is a lot different than I thought. It's harder to strategize when I'm on a time limit."

She glanced down at me, frown deepening.

"When I mess up, I can't just erase my mistake and start over. Slade gets hurt, and pokémon battles can at times be fatal," she continued solemnly. "I always knew this, but I always just thought I could win every battle with a sound strategy. I can't really formulate much of a strategy out of two attacks, and both of Slade's moves have weaknesses that may become extremely problematic later on."

"What do you mean?" Aki asked, looking confused.

"Yawn won't work on a pokémon with the insomnia ability. Also, it doesn't last long. Usually trainers withdraw their pokémon as soon as they fall asleep, but some trainers leave their pokémon out. If we can't cause enough damage in that time frame, then the pokémon will wake up again and continue to fight. Also, tackle is a normal-type attack. What happens when we're faced with a ghost? Tackle won't damage it. What if it's a ghost with the insomnia ability? Then what? Slade won't be able to do _anything_ to it."

Aki snickered, and Black shot her an annoyed look.

"You're thinking too much into this," she said, throwing Faust's pokéball up and down. "Just catch another pokémon to balance it out."

My trainer pulled a face.

"Not yet," she replied.

"Why not?"

"I want to work with Slade for a bit longer first," she explained. "We're still pretty new at being partners, and I don't think we've quite figured each other out yet."

"You look fine to me," Aki muttered. I thought so too.

"We get along," Black replied. "Don't get me wrong, Slade's a good pokémon. I just think we need some time to get used to each other before I add another pokémon to the mix. Team dynamic and all."

"If you say so..."

"I do. Besides, I don't want to just rush out and catch a pokémon. I'm already struggling with this whole trainer thing."

"Why are you self-doubting suddenly? You seemed confident before."

"I'm not self-doubting," Black sighed, rolling her eyes again. She continued to stare up at the now dark sky, looking troubled. "I don't think I'm a bad trainer. I just don't know where I stand when it comes to capturing and enslaving sentient creatures."

"Oh no," Aki huffed. "If you pull a Team Plasma on me I swear I'm disowning you here and now."

Black glared at her again.

"I'm not going to do anything _that_ drastic," she intoned. Although I had no idea who Team Plasma was, it sounded too much like Team Rocket for my liking and I automatically found myself disliking them. "I just don't like the idea of enslaving pokémon. That's all. Forget I said anything."

"It's not enslavement," Aki argued. "They could easily get away if they wanted too."

"Forget I said anything," Black repeated, with a touch of warning in her tone.

Aki dropped the subject, but it gave me something to think about. Black hesitated accepting battles, always asked if I wanted to battle before sending me out, and seemed reluctant to order me around. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't exactly good either. Now that I was a trained pokémon, I wanted to grow stronger. I was dependent on medication, and although I had long since grown used to swallowing a tablet every day, I was eager to evolve and heal so I wouldn't be so dependent on human medication.

How would I evolve if Black didn't want to be a trainer?

I shook my head. I could have gotten a lot worse. I could have received a trainer that was power-hungry, or abusive. Black was a good person. She was intelligent and considerate, beneath her antisocial behaviour. However, she wasn't a good trainer. Not yet. Not when she was so liable to second-guess herself.

I wanted to stay with her, but I would have to help her get over that. I would have to train her not to think that way. Which would be difficult, considering the language barrier, but it was worth it.

In the end, I could get a trainer out of this who was both caring _and_ strong. It would just take time.

* * *

><p>Author's notes: Oooh! Black isn't as confident a trainer as she wants everyone to think. Aki is actually a better trainer than she is, which is saying something because Aki isn't all that good yet either. xD<p>

Since I'm leaving tomorrow (on a 30hour flight, ugh) I decided to post this today. :)

Disclaimer: Pokémon. I don't own it.


	7. Chapter 6 - Trumpcard

The next day, after purchasing more supplies, we left Cherrygrove City. The next leg of the journey was going to be longer and more difficult, because it consisted of two routes instead of one. Aki wanted to get to Violet City by next week to get her first badge, and Black just liked the thought of indoor plumbing. My trainer rang the pokémon center in advance and booked a room, to avoid a repeat of last time.

We left early, much to Black's obvious displeasure, and spent the first half of the day trekking through scraggly bushes and getting rained on. At one point we were forced to seek cover beneath a cliff overhang because the weather grew too intense for us to continue.

Faust went back to tormenting wild pokémon. Ophelia-Aki finally decided on a name for the caterpie-even did a bit of training. She didn't seem to care either way, but was obedient to her trainer at least.

This encouraged me to battle as well. Faust agreed to lure wild pokémon back for me to battle in front of my trainer, because she was so reluctant to go out looking for them. Black seemed annoyed at Faust for dragging back pokémon for me to fight, but had little choice in the matter. I had successfully forced Black to train me for the time being, even if she dragged her feet in doing so.

Unfortunately Aki managed to destroy my plan by ordering Faust to stop luring wild pokémon over to me.

So I had to get creative.

Black couldn't create a sound strategy with just two moves, so I decided to fix this by learning another move.

Of course, it wasn't that simple. I wanted to learn something practical, like a water or psychic attack. However, I was a long ways off from learning a psychic attack, and I didn't know where to start in learning a water attack. So I focused on something easier. Some of the slowpoke at Slowpoke Well knew a move that decreased their speed, but made them much stronger. It wasn't a very powerful move, but it was something that my trainer could work with at least.

So I worked on it.

The move was a strange one. I wasn't sure what type it was, exactly, but it involved a type of energy from the mind that wasn't quite psychic, but definitely wasn't normal.

I didn't get a lot of progress on the first day. I tried to activate this move by clearing my head and tensing my muscles, but all I ended up with was a cramped hind leg. Black was extremely confused and concerned when I started limping, and made us stop and set up camp for the night.

I decided to be a little more discreet after that.

When we were moving I focused on my mind. When we stopped for a break I focused on my body. Whenever we set up camp I focused on both.

On the second day I managed to give myself a nasty headache when it was about midday. When we stopped for lunch I curled up beside Black and ended up falling asleep. She must have returned me to my pokéball, because when I woke up we were in a different location and it was dark.

It was on the third day that I finally had a breakthrough.

We had stopped so Ophelia could battle a weedle, and when she was injured I jumped in to defend the caterpie. Black, as usual, was reluctant to give orders, but told me to use tackle to scare the bug off.

I didn't.

Instead, I used the adrenaline of battle to use the new move. I focused my mind and tensed my body. The feeling was strange. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't painful either. A hot tingle ran down my spine, and suddenly my limbs felt stiff and awkward. The weedle seemed confused that I wasn't obeying my trainer. I felt guilty that I wasn't listening to Black, but when the weedle sprang at me and stabbed its horn into my head, only to hardly leave a scratch, I was overjoyed. The move had worked.

I slammed my shoulder into the weedle and sent the bug flying across the path. It hit a bush and quickly scrambled away.

I then turned to Black, watching her reaction.

"What was that?" Aki asked, staring in shock. She held Ophelia in her arms, and I was thankful to see the bug looked relatively unharmed.

"I'm not sure," Black frowned, and that was it.

We continued on. I practised my new attack while vowing to never again ignore Black's orders. It made me uncomfortable. I knew Black wasn't abusive, but I didn't want to risk angering or disappointing her.

With her frame of mind, I was worried she might quit training.

When we stopped to set up camp that night, Black fished out her phone and rang someone while Aki put together a small fire. I sat on the ground beside her, listening.

"Hey, it's Black," she greeted dully. Aki looked up, confused. She hadn't noticed Black take out her phone. "Yeah, I left a few days ago. Can I ask you something about slowpoke? Yeah, I got the slowpoke. Yes, I named him Slade. Grey, shut up and listen for a few seconds."

Aki perked up.

"He did something weird earlier today. It was some kind of move, I think," she said, absently patting my head. "He just stopped and tensed up. The weedle he was fighting attacked him but hardly did any damage, and then Slade tackled him with more force than usual. Is that normal?"

She paused for a few seconds, before nodding.

"I thought so," she said. "So, curse, is it? What type is that? So it raises attack and defence, but lowers speed? Slowpoke aren't really a fast pokémon to begin with, so I guess having a move that raises stats is helpful."

I was glad she found my newest move helpful.

"Oh, Aki says hello," Black added. I noticed that Aki was waving at the phone cheerily, grinning. "Grey says hi."

Aki looked exuberant.

Black and Grey-her older brother, I later discovered-talked for a few more minutes, mostly about training and family matters. I learnt that Black had a younger sister called White (why were all the siblings named after shades?) who was starting training next year, and that her mother lived in Kanto. She didn't mention her father.

After that Black went to bed. Like always, she stayed up half the night reading and refused to get out of bed until nine the next day. She would have slept longer had Aki not ordered Ophelia to string shot her hair.

Black wasn't impressed.

We stopped at a creek for late breakfast. The two girls were overjoyed to have found a clean source of water, and busied themselves refilling their water bottles and washing their cooking gear. It was peaceful up until Black nudged Aki when she was crouched down beside the river, knocking her in.

"Payback for the hair," she said in a bland tone, ignoring Aki's indignant spluttering.

Aki tried to splash Black, but the dark-haired girl was quick to disappear, as if she expected retaliation.

We stayed there for a while, resting and preparing for the rest of the travel. Ophelia and Faust battled more wild pokémon, and I continued to try to coax Black to train me with little success.

It was already noon by the time we set out again.

Half an hour later, Aki and Black were ambushed by another trainer with a couple of pidgey. Once again, Faust and I were sent out to battle. Faust managed to paralyse one of the pidgey, and I was able to put the other to sleep. It was a quick, easy battle.

His friend that challenged us straight after, however, wasn't so easy to defeat.

"A pidgeotto? Are you kidding me?" Aki said, looking torn between horrified and awed. He also had a beedrill, which was also alarming.

The boy shrugged.

Faust was poisoned and knocked out almost instantly, and Black hurriedly conceded to avoid me suffering the same fate. For once, I was glad that she pulled me out. With my current moveset I had no hope of defeating two evolved pokémon.

Fortunately the boy was kind enough not to make us pay, and we went our separate ways.

By the time night fell, Black managed to spot the entrance to a large cave imbedded in the side of a mountain. Deciding that sleeping inside a cave was safer-and dryer, since it was beginning to drizzle once again-than sleeping outside, the two humans planned on spending the night there.

Although it _was_ dryer, it definitely wasn't safer.

Black was first to notice the noise. Aki was sitting at the mouth of the cave, tending to her injured elekid, when Black randomly stood up and glanced worriedly into the dark cavern behind us. I had grown up in Slowpoke Well, so I caught on very quickly as well. I bit down on the fluff lining my trainer's boot and tugged, urging her to get away from the middle of the tunnel.

"I hear something," she said quietly, standing her ground. I thumped my head against her leg impatiently. She looked down at me, brows furrowed. "What? Do you know what's going on?"

"Move, Black," I told her, pressing against her leg. Thankfully I was big enough to cause Black to stumble slightly. She gave me a frustrated look, but finally complied and backed up a few steps, pressing her back against the rocky wall.

"Aki, something's happening," she called out.

"What?"

"I hear something."

The red-haired girl glanced over her shoulder, looking tired.

"It's probably just the rain," she said.

"Slade doesn't seem to think so," Black replied, nodding her head at me. "I hear something at the back of the cave. It's getting louder. We should move."

"We're fine, don't worry," Aki said dismissively.

"Actually, I hear something too," Faust spoke up, peering into the cave with narrowed eyes. "What _is_ that?"

"Get your trainer to move," I told him. He gave me a flat look.

"Why should I?"

The distant sounds were beginning to sound like rapid flapping and screeching, and Faust quickly caught on.

"Oh damn," he said, eyes widening. He hopped off Aki's lap, pointing towards the side of the tunnel. "We need to move, Aki. Quickly!"

"What's wrong?" Aki blinked, confused.

"Aki, come on!" Faust said with a whine, grabbing her hand and pulling.

"It's zubat," Black finally announced, looking shocked. "Aki, you need move-!"

Her voice was drowned out by the sheer amount of noise an entire flock of zubat could create. The flapping grew louder, and suddenly a couple of small, blue pokémon zipped past. Black ducked down when a zubat shot over her head, putting a hand on my back for balance.

Aki stood up, which was quite possibly the _worst_ thing she could have done in that situation.

The trickle of zubat quickly became a horde of them. Dozens turned into hundreds, all flapping and screeching and making enough noise to wake up a snorlax. Aki screamed and ran over to the side, covering her head. Faust growled and shocked any zubat that got too close, but most of them just ignored us.

We stayed like that for at least two minutes, waiting for the bulk of the flock to exit the cave. A couple of straggling groups appeared out of the darkness even after the majority of the zubats were gone, and we were forced to wait for them as well.

It made sense. Caves usually housed a large number of pokémon, and zubat were notorious for gathering in dark places and dropping down on unsuspecting trainers. We were fortunate that these zubat were only interested in going out to hunt for the night.

Or, at least, most of them.

Aki shrieked when one zubat lost interest in following its group and instead turned its attention to her. The zubat dived at her head, screeching and snapping it's fangs at her. Evidently, it was looking for an easy meal before setting out.

Faust shouted in outrage and zapped the small bat, perhaps a little too much. The flying-type fell, smoking, and that attracted the attention of others. Soon enough, Aki was surrounded by a group of angry zubat.

"Slade, yawn!" Black shouted over the noise.

I yawned, because it was the only thing I could do. They were too high up for me to tackle them, and I had no long-range attacks.

Realizing they had another threat, several of the zubat split from the group and redirected their attack to Black and I.

I stood in front of my trainer, feeling a sense of dread. There were too many. I had fought with zubat before, and most of them knew attacks that caused me a lot of damage, which was worrying. I had never been faced with so many at one time, however, and I was beginning to grow fearful. This many zubat could easily kill a human or two.

I heard Faust cry out from somewhere across the cave. I couldn't run to his aid. If I helped Faust, Black would die. I had to stay with my trainer and fight to the best of my abilities. I could only hope that Faust managed to stand his ground.

Three of the zubat dived at me while I was distracted, and I tensed in surprise.

A bad swung over me and knocked the pokémon straight out of the air. I blinked in shock, then glanced up at my trainer. She looked angry and worried, but most of all determined. And she was clutching her backpack like her life depended on it.

"Aki!" Black called. "Get outside! Find somewhere open!"

She hefted her bag and used it as a shield when a zubat swooped at her face. It shrieked loudly, hurting my ears, before turning and fluttering away. One swept past the bag and tried to bite her leg, but I head butted it away before it could get past her pants.

"Piss off," she spat at the zubat, before rushing forward. "Slade, stay beside me."

I hurried after her a bit belatedly, but fortunately she wasn't moving fast due to the mass of zubat now swarming the cave. She swung her bag around, smacking as many zubat as she could and forcing her way through. I charged ahead as well, tackling my way through. More than once I felt one take a bite at me, but I was moving too fast for them to get a good grip and they kept slipping off.

The zubat thinned when we arrived at the mouth of the cave. Aki was standing a little ways off, both Ophelia and Faust standing in front of her and battling valiantly. Ophelia was even fighting with more vigor than usual; the caterpie rarely showed much emotion at all, let alone determination.

We ran over to them and joined the fray. Black fought with her backpack, and I tackled when a zubat got too close. When they wised up and tried to snipe with long-range attacks, I used yawn. Zubat were dropping like flies; some being slammed by Black, others zapped by Faust, a few being wrapped up by string shot, and the occasional one that fell asleep due to the effects of yawn.

Yet, whenever we knocked one down, there was always another to replace it. It seemed like the fight had drawn the rest of the flock back to help, and now we had an entire horde of zubat to deal with. Things were getting a bit tricky.

Black suddenly swore loudly.

I whirled around in alarm, horrified to discover a zubat attached to her neck. To her credit, she didn't hesitate to grab it and rip it right off, then throw it away from her. The zubat looked a combination of shocked and dazed, before hurriedly flapping back off into the crowd.

Things were looking grim.

Black was bleeding badly. Ripping it off hadn't been a smart idea. The fangs had gotten caught and tore open a hole in her neck, and now she was staining her hoodie with blood. It didn't look like a lethal wound, but it would need medical treatment, that was for certain.

Faust collapsed to his knees beside me, panting.

"I can't do this any more," he wheezed.

"You must," I said, using curse just before I rammed my head into a low-flying zubat.

"I _can't_," he stressed. "I can only hold so much electricity... I'm almost out..."

Just as he said that, a group of zubat swooped down at him. Faust managed to shock one away and paralyze another, but the other two latched onto him and bit down. He cried out and flailed, sparking in shock.

"Faust!" Aki shouted. "Get away from him!"

Suddenly, the horde of zubat backed away with loud, outraged screeching. For a moment I was confused-then I noticed the smell.

Aki had pulled out a repel.

"Gross," Ophelia said tonelessly.

Gross didn't even begin to describe it.

Faust and I both collapsed, covering our noses to the best of our abilities. Caterpie either didn't have a good sense of smell, or Ophelia was the strongest pokémon I had ever met, because she merely stood calmly and eyed the retreating zubat with a half-lidded expression.

Aki rushed over to Faust and started fussing over his injuries. She appeared to have momentarily forgotten about her earlier panic, because the girl was now only concerned for her partner. I could admire that.

I turned my stinging eyes to my own trainer. She was pressing the palm of her hand against her neck, using her fingerless glove to soak up the blood. She looked pale and unfocused, and I was beginning to wonder just how much blood she was losing.

The zubat fluttered around nearby, chittering and making a racket. They didn't dare come to close. Zubat were blind, and thus had a sense of smell greater than even canine pokémon. They wouldn't be able to _stand_ the smell of repel.

It was actually quite smart of Aki to think of that, though she could have probably done it sooner, before we ran out into the rain and got ourselves attacked by a horde of zubat.

"Oh, Faust," Aki said, looking at his arm. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't do anything sooner. I was just so scared..."

"I'm fine," Faust said gruffly.

"You know, zubat's are poisonous," Ophelia commented offhandedly.

It was then Black collapsed.

* * *

><p>Author's notes: Okay, first negative review. That's fine. I'll take the reviewers words to heart and try to fix some of my mistakes. Using deadpan as a verb? My bad. It won't happen again. Also, yeah, Slade can be kind of snooty. I know that's not how the typical slowking in the anime are, but it's been said time and time again that each pokémon has their own personality. Slade is slightly conceited, because he's more intelligent than his species and he knows it.<p>

Anyway, a few people have mentioned that this story is dragging on. I KNOW this, but that's the point. It starts slow, and gets more intense later. Just bear with me for a little while longer. It picks up soon.

Also, I've seen mixed reviews when it comes to capitalizing pokémon. Some people say to give pokémon species a capital letter, like "Slowpoke" as opposed to "slowpoke", but I've always thought of pokémon as animals. You don't capitalize "cat". So tell me what you think.

And as always, if you spot any mistakes please tell me. I will try to keep from making the same mistake again. :)

Thank you to those who have reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon.


	8. Chapter 7 - Win some, lose some

Game; Chapter 7 - Win some, lose some.

After managing to calm down from her initial panic attack for a few seconds, Aki called the emergency services on her mobile phone. She was crying so hard that she didn't make much sense when she tried to explain the situation over the phone, but no more than thirty seconds later a pair of humans clad in white uniforms teleported into the clearing with an abra between them.

That's how we ended up in Goldenrod City Hospital for the night.

Black had been badly poisoned and was taken away by a group of nurses the second we teleported into the building. Aki, who was nearly hysterical, had been taken to another room to calm down and explain what happened in detail. For awhile Faust, Ophelia and I stood still, unnoticed. When the situation finally caught up to me, I tried to follow my trainer, only get stopped by a nurse and taken away to be healed.

No one else had been unfortunate enough get poisoned, but we all suffered various injuries. My fur was scruffy and torn, and I had a chunk missing on my left leg. My small wound was treated and wrapped up, and then I was put on a blanket in a dark room and left alone for the night.

The whole ordeal was rather traumatic.

* * *

><p>The next day the nurse returned with a chansey at her side. She checked my scratch, re-bandaged it, and then put me inside my pokéball. How she had gotten it, I had no idea, but I was released only a short while later.<p>

I was relieved to see Black sitting on the edge of a bed, awake and very much alive.

"You are okay," I said unnecessarily, then head butted her leg in greeting. She reached down and scratched behind my ear.

"I take it this is the right slowpoke," the nurse said happily.

"Yeah," Black muttered distractedly. "Was he injured?"

"Oh, no! No, it's just a scratch. We didn't want it to get infected, so we bandaged it. He's fine," she replied. Her chansey nodded vigorously.

"That's good," Black said, patting my head one last time before sitting up. "Am I good to go?"

"We'd like to keep you here for another day," she said. "Although the poison has been neutralized we want to make sure that you haven't suffered any long-term damage."

Black raised an eyebrow.

"That can happen? I was given the antidote pretty quick, from what I've heard."

"Yes, you were," she agreed. "However, this is just a precaution. We don't want to take any unnecessary risks. I hope you understand."

"I suppose," Black muttered, tugging at a bit of fabric on her hospital gown. It was strange seeing her in something so revealing. Usually Black wore clothes that covered as much skin as possible without giving her heat stroke. "Do you know what happened to my friend? Her name's Ban Aki."

"Miss Ban left about an hour ago," the nurse explained, frowning. "She wanted to go catch another pokémon, I believe. She should be back soon."

Black nodded and glanced down at her lap. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she looked up again.

"Is there a shower I can use?" Black asked. "Also, can I _please_ change out of these clothes?"

There was a small bathroom attached to Black's room. After the nurse brought Black her bag, she spent twenty minutes having a shower and getting changed. I wasn't surprised. My trainer seemed to really dislike showing skin for some reason.

When Black emerged she looked much better. She was less pale and seemed to have brightened up considerably. That being said, she then proceeded to spend the day sleeping, although I couldn't exactly fault her for that, seeing as she was still recovering from being poisoned.

I slept as well. I hadn't gotten much sleep since I spent all night worrying about my trainer. I hadn't realized just how exhausted I was until I lay down beside Black and closed my eyes.

The next time I woke up it was early afternoon.

Black was already awake, surprisingly, and playing a card game with Aki. I hadn't even woken up when she came in.

"We have to backtrack anyway," Black was saying, shuffling her cards around. "I don't know much about gyms, but I've heard the Goldenrod City Gym is hard. Grey had to challenge the gym four times before he won."

"I still want to try at least once before we leave," Aki replied.

"Fine," my trainer said. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Aki scowled and played in sullen silence for a while. Black was naturally quiet and didn't attempt to strike up conversation. After a few minutes, Aki grew tired of this and spoke up once again.

"I can win, you know," she said. "Faust and Ophelia are strong."

"I never said they weren't."

"Why don't you have more faith in me?" Aki demanded. "Faust is already level nine! He's stronger than all the wild pokémon, and he's taken out more trained pokémon than I can count. Why don't you think we can win against the Goldenrod City Gym?"

"I never said that," Black replied. "Stop putting words in my mouth."

"You didn't _have_ to say it," she snapped irritably. "It's obvious you don't think I'll win."

"You're right. I don't," my trainer said bluntly. Aki went from irritated to downright angry. "Do you know why?"

"Why?" Aku spat.

"Because this is the _third gym_," she replied, glaring at the red-haired human. "The first gym is hard enough, and Grey struggled on the second gym. What makes you think you can just skip two gyms and be able to defeat the third? It's not that easy, Aki."

"I already have two pokémon. We're not going to lose!"

"Grey had four," Black told her, narrowing her eyes, "and two of those pokémon were already evolved. He still failed three times."

"I'm not Grey," Aki shot back.

Black shook her head.

"Okay, fine. Go challenge the gym. I'm not allowed to leave until tomorrow morning anyway," she muttered, putting a yellow card on the pile. "Uno."

The girls dropped the subject after that. Aki was clearly still annoyed, but Black smoothly ignored it.

Aki left later that afternoon, presumably to go challenge the gym leader. Black wasn't allowed to go anywhere, so she sat in bed and read a book until dinner. When the nurse brought us dinner, Black caught me off-guard by asking if it was okay to wash me with my injury.

"Of course," the nurse said cheerily. "There's a special shampoo for short-haired pokémon in the cabinet. Just try not to get your slowpoke's bandages wet."

"I won't," she replied.

After eating, Black coaxed me into the bathroom. I went hesitantly. I wasn't sure what to make of being washed, but my fur _was_ quite horrible at that point. I was covered in dry mud and my fur was roughed up and messy. I needed to be cleaned, and since there weren't any nearby lakes or rivers, a bathtub was probably the best way to get clean.

I then discovered that I preferred hot water over cold.

I also liked soap.

Black underestimated the power of hospital soap and poured too much in the bathtub. I ended up buried alive in suds, and Black panicked and quickly turned the tap back on. This resulted in flooding the bathroom and making an even bigger mess. I tried to help out by searching for the plug, but my movement only created even more suds, and soon enough we were both wet and covered in soapy froth.

"At least we are clean," I told her.

Black could only sigh in defeat.

* * *

><p>I woke up to a strange noise in the middle of the night.<p>

It was some kind of music.

Black groaned and fumbled for her phone, searching blindly in the dark. I nudged it towards her hand with the tip of my tail, and she snatched it up and flipped it open.

"Mhm?"

Silence.

"Hm."

More silence.

"Goldenrod City..."

There was a few seconds of Black just laying in bed, eyes closed and phone pressed against her ear.

Then the room lit up in a flash.

My trainer bolted into an upright position, eyes wide. I scrambled up as well, confused and on-guard. When the light cleared, a figure stood in the middle of the room, something small clutching their leg.

Black blinked a few times, then squinted at the figure.

"Grey?"

"I forgot about time zones," he muttered, sounding guilty. "Guess I should have realized it was late by the sound of your voice."

"What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Black hissed.

"I thought it was earlier!"

"Where did you even come from?"

"Hoenn." Black just stared at him. "In Petalburg City. They like nature there."

"_Grey_," she said warningly. "Why are you _here_?"

"I just came to give-are we in a hospital?" The boy called Grey looked around, shocked. "Are you hurt? Where's the light switch?"

"I'm fine."

The figure stumbled over to the door and patted the wall. After a few seconds he grew tired of blinding searching for the light switch, and instead released another pokémon. The room flashed red, and a tall figure emerged.

"Dee, use flash." The room suddenly lit up. I cringed and closed my eyes. "Why are you in a hospital?"

"I was bitten by a zubat," Black replied, sounding resigned.

"What? Where?"

"On my neck."

"...You were poisoned, weren't you?"

"A little."

"How can you be _a little_ poisoned?"

Black had nothing to say to that.

I hesitantly opened my eyes again, blinking away the sensitivity. There were two other pokémon in the room. A small, pale canine with a teal-tipped tail. The pokémon that could apparently teleport. The other was much larger, yellow, covered in black stripes, and had a red gem in the center of its head.

"Dee evolved," Black noted.

"Don't change the subject," Grey frowned.

"She's gotten much bigger."

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the canine leapt up onto the bed and into Black's lap. I stared at it in shock, unable to decide if I should attack or not. It didn't appear to be aggressive, but why was it standing on my trainer?

"Smudge," Black said, smiling. As a greeting, he dabbed her nose with his tail. Black blinked, before picking the dog-like creature up and mock-glaring at him. "Why do you always do that?"

"Serves you right for naming him Smudge," Grey grumbled.

I glanced at the boy. I could definitely see a resemblance. Same messy black hair, hazel eyes and pale skin. He was much taller than Black, and wasn't wearing nearly as much black as her. In fact, he was wearing mostly grey.

I frowned. I was beginning to see a pattern. Black wore black, Grey wore grey... and they had a younger sister called White. I could only assume she wore mostly white.

Why they were all named after shades, I had no idea.

"He likes the name," she replied. "Don't you Smudge?"

He nodded, ears bobbing.

"Have you told Mum what happened?" Grey asked, leaning against the wall and stuffing his hands in his pockets. A habit I had seen Black do plenty of times.

"Not yet."

"Good, don't," he said flatly. Black gave him a confused look, lowering Smudge back to her lap. "You don't have any badges. She'll force you to come home."

"Can she do that?"

"Without any badges? Yeah. You're only fourteen."

"Almost fifteen."

"Doesn't matter," he said. "You're still a minor. If she wants you home, you'll go home, either by choice or force. Trust me."

She looked torn.

"No, seriously, trust me. Remember when I came home for six months when you were about nine? That wasn't by choice. I didn't have any badges and I was attacked this guy who wanted my pokémon. I got away, of course, but when Mum found out she told me to come home. I refused, and I was forcefully taken home by the police, handcuffs and all."

"...Okay. Don't tell her about this."

"I won't, but if I were you, I'd get a badge as soon as possible," he told her. "She can't make you come home if you have at least one badge."

"I'm not doing the league circuit," Black said, frowning.

"Still. Just get one badge. Challenge Falkner or something."

Black sighed, absently patting Smudge.

"Fine," she muttered.

"Oh, by the way, here." He chucked a package at her head. Fortunately the package was light and didn't do any damage. Black frowned at it.

"What is it?"

"A scarf."

"...Why?"

"I don't know. I saw it in Hoenn and thought it looked cool. You like dark, creepy things, and it's going to get cold soon, so why not?" Grey said, shrugging. "Besides, it's practical. You can use a scarf for lots of things on a journey."

"You came all the way here to give me a scarf?"

"No. Well, yes, but I'm heading to Kanto anyway," he replied. "Why not make a stop in Johto to see how my dear sister's holding up? Not so good, as it turns out."

"I'm _fine_," Black repeated irritably.

"Also, I wanted to see your starter." Grey glanced down at me, grinning. "You chose the slowpoke, huh? Did you name it Slade?"

"Him, and yes," Black replied absent-mindedly.

"Great! Now White needs to get a slowpoke as a starter, name it Blair, and we'll be good."

"...I really don't get you sometimes."

"You don't have to," he said. "Smudge, come on. We have to go. Mum's pasta salad awaits."

He nodded, licked Black's hand, and bounded over to his trainer. Grey returned the yellow pokémon and the room plunged into darkness once more.

"Don't forget to ring her sometimes, okay? She worries," he told Black.

"I will," she said. "Once my neck is better."

"Cover it with the scarf," he replied, sounding pleased with himself. "Anyway, nice seeing you. Good luck on your journey, and stay away from zubat. They're nasty little things."

"Thanks," she said in a flat tone.

"No problem," he replied cheerfully. "Later."

He teleported out of the room with a flash of white, and then there was silence.

Black put the package on the bedside table, lay back down, and went straight back to sleep like nothing ever happened. I decided to follow her example. I just hoped her brother didn't make a habit of teleporting in on us during the night.

* * *

><p>Aki didn't win the gym battle.<p>

She challenged the gym leader twice, and still didn't win. She managed to get past the gym leader's first pokémon through sheer luck, but the second completely stomped her team.

Black had the decency not to say 'I told you so'.

After being discharged from the hospital, the two girls headed towards Route 34. Aki had stacked up on pokéballs before we left, because there was a forest we would be passing through filled with bug and grass pokémon.

The moment we left the city gates we were challenged to all kinds of battles. Single battles, double battles, and even a couple of triple battles. We were facing down a spearow, hoothoot, and pidgey when Ophelia began to glow.

"Ophelia!" Aki yelped, sounding torn between shocked and fearful.

"She's just evolving. Calm down," Black told her.

The caterpie grew larger and changed shape. When the light cleared, she was covered in what appeared to be hardened leaves. She couldn't move on her own, and definitely couldn't fight.

She had evolved into a metapod.

Ophelia seemed completely indifferent to the evolution.

"Even better," the spearow said, hiding a wry smirk behind his wing. "Now there's even more to eat."

Ophelia proceeded to shoot a glob of string shot at him. The flying-type squawked and tried to flap away, but the gooey substance was already stuck in his feathers and made flying difficult. Faust knocked him out in two thuckershocks.

"Ophelia!" Aki squealed happily. "You evolved! You'll be a butterfree soon!"

"Yay," the metapod drawled. At times Ophelia reminded me a little of Black, but with even _less_ enthusiasm, if that was even possible.

I managed to knock out the pidgey with a couple of tackles after using curse, and Faust took out the hoothoot moments later. After collecting our prize money, the girls continued onwards. Aki was forced to carry Ophelia, but she didn't seem to mind much. If anyone was bothered by it, Faust was, but only because he was jealous of all the attention Ophelia was getting.

Our trainers talked about grass-types. Aki wanted a budew-whatever that was-but Black said that budew were only native to Sinnoh. This started a heated debate about whether or not they were also found in Johto. Black was adamant that they were only found overseas, and Aki said her friend caught a budew in Ilex Forest, which meant there were budew in Johto too.

The topic, eventually, shifted to moves. Aki commented offhandedly that Faust had learnt how to paralyze opponents without doing any damage. Proud to once again be in the spotlight, Faust tried to demonstrate this.

On me.

I retaliated by putting him to sleep.

"That was stupid, Slade," Black muttered, spraying me with paralyse heal. It was, but I didn't regret it.

"To be fair, Faust started it," I replied, ignoring how childish that sounded.

Aki put Faust back in his pokéball instead of using an awakening on him. She said that since it was his fault in the first place, she didn't feel like wasting supplies on him. Black said she probably would have done the same if I was the one who started it.

Without Faust to scare away the wildlife, I found myself fighting twice as many battles. Black was begrudgingly getting used to giving me orders in battle, much to my delight. The next step was to have _her_ challenge someone.

The sooner I got stronger, the sooner I could evolve and heal my heart.

By the time the trees started thickening and the path became harder to follow, it was dark again. Black unrolled the tent while Aki searched for firewood, and just like that we were back to routine.

"What about an oddish? Bellossom are pretty cute," Aki muttered absent-mindedly.

"Stones are also really expensive," Black pointed out,

"Must you always be so negative?"

"I like to think of it as pragmatic."

Aki huffed and threw a stick into the fire with more force than necessary. Black ignored her and thumbed through her name book.

Yes, back to routine indeed.

* * *

><p>Author's notes: Thank you Foxsadist712 and Y-Ko for reviewing. Especially Y-Ko, as you've been helping me better my writing, story, and characters. Thanks for being patient with my many, many mistakes. :)<p>

I do, actually, proofread every chapter before I post it. Twice. I just keep skipping over mistakes by accident. Or sometimes I just don't _see_ the mistake. I'm getting there, though. Slowly but surely.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon.


	9. Chapter 8 - Around and around

Once again, I woke up to Aki screaming.

Although I was curious as to why she was screaming this time, I was too tired to really care. Last time it had been over a caterpie, and Aki was prone to screaming at things that weren't really dangerous. I figured that Black would sort things out and we could all go back to sleep again.

Then Black hissed a startled curse and suddenly everything wasn't okay any more.

I lifted my head and blinked in shock. There was a yellow _thing_ standing at the foot of Black's sleeping bag, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

Aki kept screaming, and it turned to her and raised it's stubby little arms. Two seconds later, Aki went silent and fell onto her side, unconscious. I panicked at first, before realizing that she was just asleep. The strange pokémon had used hypnosis on her.

It turned back to my trainer.

"Slade, tackle!"

I didn't need to be told twice.

I rammed my head into the creature's stomach. It fell backwards and we both tumbled out of the tent and onto the cold ground outside. The creature was first to get back to it's feet, and it glared at me in annoyance from a few feet away.

We stayed like that for a short while, just glaring at each other, bodies tense and ready for battle.

Then, much to my shock, it relaxed back into a crouch position, giving me an almost bored look.

"That human is your trainer, correct?"

I blinked at it - him. Not many pokémon stopped in the middle of a battle and started talking. Not so casually, anyway. It was somewhat jarring.

Black burst out of the tent, shoeless and irritated.

The pokémon glanced at her warily.

"I was not harming her," he said. "I was merely feeding off of her."

"Feeding?" I repeated. That didn't sound particularly friendly to me.

"Her dreams," he replied, turning his half-lidded eyes back to me. "My kind sustains on the dreams human emit while they sleep. It is completely harmless to the human, but vital to us."

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously, before looking back at my trainer. She didn't appear to be injured. Tired and alarmingly pale, yes, but otherwise completely healthy.

"Why did you put Aki to sleep?" I asked him.

"The other human? She was making an awful noise," he replied simply.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Black sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"I am not entirely certain myself," I said, looking up at her.

"I was eating," he reiterated. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh, well that explains everything," Black muttered. "I don't suppose either of you know how to speak english?"

I shook my head, and the other pokémon snorted.

"Don't be daft, human."

"Well, that went pretty much as expected," she sighed, rolling her eyes towards the sky.

"Well isn't your human the epitome of affableness," the creature drawled just as sarcastically, giving Black a narrow-eyed look.

"She is just tired," I defended. That wasn't entirely true - Black was never particularly friendly. Even less so when she just woke up. I turned to my trainer, head butting her leg. "He is harmless, Black."

The pokémon scoffed.

"I am many things," he said quietly. "Harmless is not one of them."

I shot him a look.

"You are not here to harm my trainer, and that is all that matters to me," I replied.

"Of course," he said.

"Okay, I'm going back to bed now," Black spoke up, glancing between the two of us. "If you try to eat us during the night, I'm punting you into a tree. And Aki _better_ be just asleep."

"Your trainer is quite brutal," the pokémon remarked, giving her a uneasy look.

"Nod your head," I told him. He gave me a baffled look. "Humans recognize that as an affirmative."

"Strange creatures," he muttered, but complied all the same.

Black narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a long, hard stare. She then glanced down at me, eyes softening marginally.

"Be careful," she warned, and then she disappeared back into the tent. The pokémon stared after her with a contemplative expression.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Have you never a seen a drowzee before?"

"Never."

"That doesn't surprise me. You slowpoke aren't typically nomadic."

"I go where my trainer goes," I told him.

"Don't all trained pokémon?"

"Some don't," I replied. "Some are kept inside their pokéballs."

"Pokéballs?" His brows furrowed in confusion, before understanding dawned on his expression. "Ah, the spherical contraptions."

"Yes," I said, somewhat uncertainly. I wasn't aware that some wild pokemon didn't know what pokéballs were, but I suppose it made sense. Slowpoke Well always had at least one human around, and I was used to them from the moment I hatched. Very few humans were seen without a pokéball on hand.

"And why doesn't your trainer keep you inside one of these... pokéballs?"

"I can not say."

That was a question that had been bothering me for awhile.

Aki seemed less inclined to keep her pokémon inside their pokeballs as well, as opposed to normal humans. Or were Aki and Black normal, while the humans that I was used to _ab_normal? It was all quite confusing.

He hummed in response, then turned and began to shuffle away.

"I will take my leave now," he informed me. "Your human's dreams have sated me. You may return to her. Farewell, slowpoke."

And just like that, the strange pokémon was gone.

* * *

><p>"Did you call someone?"<p>

"No."

"It attacked me! You should have called emergency services!"

"It used hypnosis on you. That's hardly dangerous."

"Does it matter? It still attacked me!"

Aki and Black had been arguing all morning. The red-haired human woke up early, as usual, and then proceeded to wake Black up as well, much to my trainer's dismay. Black tried to go back to sleep, but Aki quickly put a stop to that by ranting at her.

After ten minutes of trying to ignore Aki, Black gave up and moodily set about to her normal morning routine. Aki followed her, still chewing her out for not taking the situation seriously.

"What did I miss?" Faust asked, sitting down beside me.

It occurred to me then that somehow I had won Faust's respect. Or, at least, he was acting more tolerable towards me. And by tolerable, I mean he wasn't trying to thunder shock me or belittle me every chance he got, which was good enough for me.

"A pokémon was here last night," I told him, watching as Black marched off into the trees with an armful of clean clothes, trying to ignore Aki.

"Was it a zubat or ariados?" Faust asked dryly.

"It was a drowzee."

"A drowzee?" Faust made a face, looking confused. "Are they those yellow things?"

"The one I saw had yellow fur," I said. "He was psychic."

"How could you tell?"

"Because I myself am psychic," I reminded him.

"Oh yeah," he muttered. "Huh. Whatever. At least it wasn't another caterpie."

He glared bitterly at the metapod leaning up against the tent. Ophelia may have heard his comment, but she didn't say anything to defend herself. In fact, Ophelia didn't say much at all.

"Do you dislike your teammate?" I asked.

"She's creepy," he grunted, picking at the patch of grass he was sitting on. "She doesn't really do or say anything. Not often, anyway. And when she does, it completely lacks emotion. Can she even _feel_ emotion? Because it doesn't seem like it."

I didn't have anything to say to that.

"It's not like you, either," he continued. "I mean, you may be an arrogant jerk, but at least you have emotions."

"Thank you, Faust," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"No worries," he replied, either not hearing my sarcasm or ignoring it.

Black came storming back into the clearing, now changed into her 'traveling clothes'. Aki followed her closely, relentlessly berating her for going back to sleep with a dangerous pokémon in the nearby area.

"Well, she's going to be fun to deal with today," Faust muttered, watching his trainer warily. "What exactly did this pokémon do to piss her off so much?"

"He used hypnosis on her," I said.

"Wait-_what_?" Faust snapped, jumping to his feet. "He used a _move_ on her? And you let this guy get away with it? What's wrong with you?"

I gave the elekid an irritated look.

"As my trainer previously stated; hypnosis is hardly a dangerous move," I told him.

"That doesn't matter! It was still a move!" Faust growled, fur sparking. "Geez, I thought I could trust you to look after them. So much for that."

"They are both unharmed," I replied evenly.

"Yeah? And what about next time, huh? What are you going to do if that drowzee returns? Sit back and watch while he rips apart our trainers? Some pokémon you are!"

Faust was extremely tiring to have a conversation with. One moment he was content, and the next he was shooting sparks and ready for battle. It was more than a little frustrating.

"Let it go."

Surprisingly, it was Ophelia who spoke up.

Faust rounded on her, fur standing on end.

"_Let it go_? Listen here you stupid bug! Aki is our trainer, got it? Our _trainer_. Which means that _we_ have to protect her," he snapped. "Not sit around on our asses doing nothing all day! It's time you pull your weight around here!"

"Says the one who hasn't evolved."

Ouch.

Perhaps Faust and I were mistaken. Ophelia apparently _did_ have the ability to feel emotions, and right now she sounded extremely condescending. She probably would have looked smug as well, but metapod had very little expression. Right now the only thing giving away her sudden superiority complex was her tone of voice.

Faust gaped at her in stunned disbelief.

"Oh my god! Faust-_Faust_! Get over here!" Aki shouted.

Faust jumped slightly, before hurrying towards the sound of his trainer's voice. I got up and followed, wondering what the commotion was about. Aki didn't sound troubled, and she wasn't screaming. Surely those were both good signs.

When we arrived at the scene, Aki was clutching onto Black's arm, hopping up and down on the spot.

"I told you! I freaking told you! Faust, use thunder wave!" Aki said excitedly.

"On _what_?" Faust said, looking around the thicket that surrounded us.

"There! On that! On the budew!" Aki shouted, pointing at what appeared to be a small, green bulge sticking out of the ground.

"Thunder wave! Come on!"

"Okay, okay," Faust said, rubbing the back of his head. Uncertainly, he spun his arms around, charging his fur with static.

"Hey!"

Before Faust had the chance to attack, a new voice shouted out. The four of us turned around to face a pale-haired woman wearing sunglasses. I narrowed my eyes at her. She looked oddly familiar.

"What do you think you're-!"

"You!" Aki shouted, pointing a finger at the woman.

"Excuse me?"

"I know you! You're the one who-with the ariados! You're the one who called us stupid!"

The woman pushed her sunglasses down her nose, giving Aki an appraising look.

"Ah, yes," she said. "You're the two newbies from New bark Town."

"We're not newbies any more," Aki snapped.

"Oh really? Ha," the woman scoffed, clearly amused by Aki's exclamation. "How long have you been training? A couple of days? A week?"

"A week and a bit," Aki growled.

"Ohh, so tough," she replied mockingly, pushing her glasses up again. Aki fumed. "Tell me, do you two know how to read?"

"Of course we do!"

"Oh, so you're either purposely breaking the law or lying to me. Nice," the woman replied.

"What?" Black frowned, looking confused.

"There's a sign back there," she said, jerking her thumb back in the direction we came from. "It clearly states that no pokémon are to be caught in Ilex forest."

"Since when?" Aki cried, eyes going wide. "I know heaps of people who've caught something here!"

"It's a recent thing," the woman replied, planting a hand firmly on her hip. "Only a few months old. There was a fire here that killed a bunch of pokémon, so the league's placed a temporary ban on catching pokémon until the survivors repopulate."

Aki looked grief-stricken.

"Fair enough," Black said.

"You're only saying that because _you_ don't want another pokémon," Aki muttered bitterly. Black shrugged, not denying it. Turning back to the woman, Aki spoke up in a louder voice. "How did you even get here so fast? You were heading to New Bark Town last time we saw you."

"I flew," the woman said flippantly.

"So that's how you're getting around? With a flying pokémon?"

The woman snorted.

"No. I own a plane," she replied. "Honestly, does everything have to be pokémon-related to you trainers? Do you even know what technology _is_?"

"Okay, what's your problem?" Aki snapped, glaring at the older woman. "We don't even _know_ you! Why do you keep picking on us?"

"I'm not picking on you," the woman sighed, rubbing a hand through her fringe. "Well, I am, but it's nothing personal. I pick on everyone. You two just keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Aki and Black both frowned at her.

"I'm a biologist," she explained. "I travel from route to route, studying pokémon and whatnot."

"So you're not a trainer?" Aki said.

"Nope."

"What about the ariados?" Black asked.

"Not mine," she said. "Not anyone's, actually. Donnie's trainer abandoned him a few years ago, and he hasn't left the area. He keeps the pokémon there safe, so we overlook some of his more... questionable choices."

"Like attacking trainers," Aki said.

"He wasn't going to hurt you," she replied. "He was just trying to scare you away."

"Right," Black muttered. It was obvious my trainer didn't believe her. I didn't either, to be honest. Donnie definitely wanted us dead. "As interesting as this conversation is, I think we should continue. We need to get through Ilex forest by sundown."

The woman scoffed.

"Yeah, good luck with that," she said, hefted her backback. "Just don't catch anything, okay? If I find out you went behind my back and caught something, I'm going to be pissed. And believe me, you do _not_ want me pissed. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Black replied impassively.

"Good," she said, then turned and walked back onto the path, heading towards Goldenrod City.

The two girls watched her go with matching looks of annoyance. Aki was openly irritated by the woman's behaviour, and Black was quietly cold.

And Faust was _still_ in a bad mood, going off the glare he shot me when our trainers weren't looking.

Already I could tell it wasn't going to be a good day.

* * *

><p>Somewhat predictably, I was right.<p>

Aki fell over and sprained her ankle while packing up the tent, delaying our departure another half an hour.

Black was attacked by a small flock of territorial pidgey, and it took both Faust and I to scare them off.

A spearow tried to eat Ophelia, a weedle poisoned me (why was it always poison?), we got lost three times while trying to find the path, and the very same budew that Aki wanted kept following Faust around, battering her eyes and making very strange comments that made Faust flustered and embarrassed.

After awhile the budew gave up and went away, but it left Faust in a very strange mood. He seemed torn between annoyed, jumpy, and arrogant, which was an interesting mix. He took his pent up energy out on Ophelia and I, which didn't improve the situation any.

All in all, it was a very trying experience.

It only got worse when we couldn't find our way out of the forest.

The woman's ominous words repeated in my head when we were forced to spend another night in Ilex forest. Black wanted to keep going, convinced that we weren't too far away from civilization, but Aki complained about her swollen ankle and that was the end of that.

We ate, talked for a bit, and then went to sleep.

It was an anticlimactic end to an otherwise very tiring day.

* * *

><p>Author's notes: Spell check isn't coming up, for some reason. :s<p>

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon.


End file.
